Uphaar tragedy: Two managers move HC

Two former Uphaar cinema managers, undergoing seven years' rigorous imprisonment in the 1997 cinema hall fire tragedy case, on Tuesday moved the Delhi High Court challenging their conviction.

Justice H R Malhotra issued notice to the CBI and posted the matter for Thursday.

A trial court had on November 20 last year convicted all the 12 accused under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for causing death of 59 cine-goers who were asphyxiated during the screening of the Hindi blockbuster Border inside Uphaar cinema on June 13, 1997.

Radha Krishan Sharma and Nirmal Singh Chopra, presently lodged in Tihar jail, in their appeal alleged that the trial court has failed to appreciate the evidence against them and sought the court to suspend their sentence.

Sharma's counsel told the court that his client is critically ill and needed to be released on bail.

To his submission, the court asked the jail authorities to furnish his medical records on the next date of hearing.