Uphaar Fire Tragedy: Sushil Ansal Misled Govt & Courts To Obtain Passport, Says Delhi HC; Orders FIR [Read Order]

The Delhi High Court has held that real estate tycoon and 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy case convict Sushil Ansal had “on oath misled the Government of India and the Court that he has not been convicted in any criminal proceedings by any Court” when he availed of the benefit of a passport under the tatkaal scheme in the year 2013 and travelled on it outside the country few times.Justice Najmi Waziri ordered an FIR to be registered against the Delhi Police personnel who had given a police verification report in favour of Ansal way back in the year 2013 rather than mentioning criminal cases pending against him despite the pendency of his appeal in the main Uphaar fire tragedy case during the period from 30.1.2009 to 19.8.2015.The court passed the order after it was informed by the counsel for Delhi Police that an inquiry has been initiated against three police officers who had given a favourable report and two of those officers have retired.The court also questioned as to why the requirement of pre-police verification for the issuance of a passport was relaxed to post-police verification when Ansal applied for a passport in the year 2018.“Clearly there is no explanation as to why there was relaxation apropos the requirement for pre-police verification to post-police verification for Sushil Ansal. The matter is being looked into by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Court is assured of a Report in the next four weeks. Let the matter be looked into by an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary, MEA. The Report be filed in Court, in a sealed cover,” ordered Justice Waziri.“Apropos the cases against the police officials, let an FIR be registered by the Crime Branch, Delhi Police under the appropriate sections of law and a Report be filed in four weeks,” the court ordered.The high court has been hearing a petition filed by the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) through its chairperson Neelam Krishnamoorthy and general secretary R Krishnamoorthy seeking an inquiry into purported connivance between Sushil Ansal and the passport authorities due to which he was issued passport without him applying for the mandatory no-objection certificate before any criminal court where cases against him have been pending for over 21 years since the fire tragedy.Before the high court, the Delhi Police certified that Ansal had never travelled abroad in all this time when he had travelled out of India many times and called for a detailed affidavit.The court’s attention to this aberration was attracted by AVUT’s counsel and senior advocate Vikas Pahwa that the list of documents filed by the police did not mention cases initiated against Ansal prior to 2012. Pahwa pointed out that the police report also certified that the applicant has not travelled outside the country when in fact, he had travelled outside the country.The court noted that the Ansal was issued a passport in the year 2013 on a tatkaal application and to obtain the passport, he submitted an affidavit wherein he deposed there are no criminal proceedings pending against him in any court of law.“Respondent no.4 (Ansal) benefited from the said passport and travelled on it outside the country few times. He did not take the requisite permission from the appropriate court in terms of GSR 570(E) mentioned hereinabove. In effect, he has on oath misled the Government of India and the Court that he has not been convicted in any criminal proceedings by any Court,” noted Justice Waziri.The court was also informed that before the expiry of the tenure of the said passport issued in 2013, Ansal surrendered it before the Regional Passport Officer (RPO) in August 2017 because he knew that adverse orders against him may well be passed. The passport issued to him by the MEA in the year 2018 was through the normal procedure and not through the tatkal scheme. Two adverse reports were given against the applicant by the Delhi Police. However, no NOC from the court was submitted to the RPO.On issuance of the passport in 2018, ASG Maninder Acharya submitted that at the time of issuance, three cases against Sushil Ansal were to be looked into: (i) the unfortunate Uphaar fire tragedy in which R-4 already stood convicted, so there were no pending proceedings; (ii) tampering of evidence case in which NOC was issued by the court concerned and (iii) the case filed by Ms. Neelam Krishnamoorty, in which proceedings had been stayed in the year 2016 and respondent no.4 had been discharged from proceedings on 14.07.2015.However, two adverse police reports were filed by Delhi Police on 10.05.2018 and 11.06.2018, in which they gave reference to various cases.The court also noted that despite the adverse reports being in the knowledge of the RPO, a fresh passport was issued to Ansal. After issuance of the passport, the RPO, Delhi, had sought clarifications from Delhi Police. The clarification was issued by Delhi Police on 04.10.2018, listing all criminal cases pending or otherwise...

Uphaar Fire Tragedy: Sushil Ansal Misled Govt & Courts To Obtain Passport, Says Delhi HC; Orders FIR [Read Order]

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