Keeping his promise to the families of the victims of Uphaar fire tragedy, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has approved the appointment of a prominent city-based legal functionary to represent them in a criminal case related to the incident.
According to a highly placed government source, the counsel whose name is being withheld, had volunteered to represent the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) which was immediately approved by Mr. Kejriwal.
The counsel will represent AVUT in a case of alleged tampering and destruction of evidence of judicial records by a court clerk to aid the Ansal brothers — the accused in the case — in 2003.
Mr. Kejriwal’s decision comes less than a fortnight after his meeting with AVUT representatives at the Delhi Secretariat during which he had been apprised about the status of Uphaar-related cases currently sub-judice at various city courts. He had assured the delegation that the government would appoint counsels only after consulting the families and also ensure that these were fast-tracked.
“The AVUT delegation had specifically requested the appointment of a senior counsel for representation in a case related to tampering of evidence in response to which they had been asked to submit a written representation for the same,” said an official.
“We received this representation a day later following which the counsel’s appointment was approved and the decision was communicated to AVUT,” the official added. AVUT convenor Neelam Krishnamoorthy welcomed the move. “As we had stated in our plea, we did not want the accused in the case to reap the benefit of a prolonged trial which has usually been seen to benefit the perpetrators. Though a formal order related to the development is yet to be received, we have been apprised about it by the Chief Minister’s office,” Ms. Krishnamoorthy told The Hindu . On January 31, 2003, an Additional Sessions Judge had ordered an inquiry into an incident of judicial records pertaining to the case reported missing from the court record room. Following the inquiry, a court clerk was dismissed for tampering with court records which then culminated in the Delhi High Court directing the Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing to register a case on May 5, 2006. The EOW had then arrested the court masand later filed two charge sheets naming the Ansal brothers and two others as the accused in 2008. Charges against the accused, however, were framed only in May last year. The AVUT had also demanded that the government reject the Rs. 60 crore which the Supreme Court had directed should be deposited with it as a fine by the convicts with the Chief Minister assuring that the government was seeking legal opinion on the matter and would take a considered decision taking into account the sentiments of the victims’ families.
We did not want the accused to reap the benefit of a prolonged trial which has usually been seen to benefit the perpetrators
