Two fire tragedies; two different sentencing systems

[V.Balasubramani]

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Two fire tragedies; two different sentencing systems

NEW DELHI: An eerie similarity exists between two massive fire tragedies that devastated nearly 200 families - Uphaar fire in Delhi and Kumbakonam school fire in Tamil Nadu.

Seven years and 2,500 km separated them. On June 13, 1997, a massive fire in Uphaar theatre killed 59 people. They were trapped as the exits in the cinema hall were blocked by additional seats illegally installed to make extra bucks.

The trial went on for 10 years and drained the victims' relatives of energy, resolve and money. On November 20, 2007, a Delhi court convicted the accused, including owners of the theatre Sushil and Gopal Ansal, and sentenced them to two years in prison.

In March 2014, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction. But a two-judge bench was split over the quantum of punishment - whether the accused should get one year or two years prison term.

On July 16, 2004, a massive fire in a school building in Kumbakonam killed 94 children. This trial took 10 years. On July 30, 2014, a Thanjavur trial court convicted 10 persons, including the owner and principal of Sri Krishna Middle School.

READ ALSO: Kumbakonam fire tragedy: School founder, wife and eight others sentenced to jail

School founder Pulavar Palaniswamy, his wife Saraswathy, headmistress Santhalakshmi, engineer Jayachandran, elementary education officer Balaji and assistant elementary education officer Sivaprakasam were among the others sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.


Read more at: Two fire tragedies; two different sentencing systems - The Times of India

 

[krish44]

kumbakonam fire conviction is by a lower court .on appeal to higher court it might change.
not many are satsified with uphaar verdict.
both the theatre owner and civic agencies got away lightly due to poor handling of the case by the prosecution

 

[vgane]

May be the TN judges had the public reaction in mind...Already the parents of the small kids are unhappy with a 10 year conviction..Had judge pronounced 2 years punishment Kumbakonam would have seen riots! That's the intensity of the anger!

 

[vgane]

Bala Sir,

How about the Srirangam marriage hall fire where 64 people perished? The quantum of sentence was also max 2 years there

Two tragedies, two verdicts - The Hindu

 

[V.Balasubramani]

Sir, you are right.

This case was fought in the Principal District Court of Tiruchirapalli. On 14 June 2012, the judge sentenced Ramasamy (65), owner of the wedding hall, to two years rigorous imprisonment and ordered to pay a compensation of 50,000 each to the dependents of the victims and 10,000 each to those injured in the accident. Selvam, the thatch roof contractor, one of the six accused, died before the judgement. Dharmaraj, the videographer was sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment, Sadagopan, the hall manager, to one year imprisonment and Murugesan, the electrician, to six months imprisonment.

Source: Srirangam marriage hall fire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[rnarayan]

Court Trials are long drawn , time consuming and above all a big strain financially, physically and emotionally. And at the end of it the culprits get away with some mild punishment, like the two year sentence. The Judicial systems must change. But when, if at all it does and how. Only God can save our country.