{"id":16133,"date":"1997-07-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1997-06-30T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/krishan-lal-malhotra-ors-vs-govt-of-nct-delhi-on-1-july-1997"},"modified":"2016-09-18T17:03:12","modified_gmt":"2016-09-18T11:33:12","slug":"krishan-lal-malhotra-ors-vs-govt-of-nct-delhi-on-1-july-1997","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/krishan-lal-malhotra-ors-vs-govt-of-nct-delhi-on-1-july-1997","title":{"rendered":"Krishan Lal Malhotra & Ors. vs Govt. Of Nct Delhi on 1 July, 1997"},"content":{"rendered":"
Delhi High Court<\/div>\n
Krishan Lal Malhotra & Ors. vs Govt. Of Nct Delhi on 1 July, 1997<\/div>\n
Author: A D Singh<\/div>\n
Bench: A D Singh<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
<\/pre>\n
ORDER<\/p>\n
  Anil Dev Singh, J.<\/p>\n
 1.     This  is  an application filed by the petitioners  under  section  439 Cr.P.C. The petitioners, who are the managerial staff of the Uphaar Cinema, are  in custody in connection with case F.I.R. No. 432\/97 P.S.  Hauz  Khas. The case relates to an abominable tragedy at Uphaar Cinema in which several persons  including  women and children lost their lives while  watching  the matinee   show   of  the  film  “Border”  on  June  13,   1997.   FIR   u\/s 304\/436\/427\/337\/338\/285\/287 I.P.C. was lodged on the same day at about 8.45
\nP.M. by one Sudhir Kumar, a guard on duty at Uphaar Cinema. It appears that after the registration of the case and during investigation, statements  of several  surviving viewers, who were present inside the cinema at the  time of  the  unfortunate  tragedy, were recorded. Besides,  the  statements  of persons  who  were present outside the cinema at the time of  the  incident were also recorded. The material on record also includes the report of  the enquiry which was instituted by the Lt. Governor of Delhi on June 14, 1997.\n<\/p>\n
 2.   What  emerges from it makes a very sad reading. A transformer of  1000 KVA  capacity belonging to the Delhi Vidyut Board (for short  ‘D.V.B.’)  is installed  in the enclosed car parking area of Uphaar Cinema. On  June  13, 1997 at about 7 A.M. a fire broke out in the transformer which was attended to  by  the D.V.B. employees but the quality of work performed by  them  in rectifying the defect is being questioned. At about 5 P.M. on the same  day heavy sparking took place in the D.V.B. transformer which was followed by a loud  explosion.  It was noticed that oil started flowing from  the  D.V.B. transformer  due to the explosion which resulted in an outbreak of fire.  A few  cars including the car of the petitioner No.1 were taken out  from  the parking  lot, but most of the cars could not be taken out with  the  result that  several cars parked there caught fire. Due to the burning  of  tyres, car  seats, petrol, transformer oil, cable insulations, etc.,  toxic  smoke was generated which travelled to the auditorium. The condition became worse as  the  private transformer belonging to the cinema was switched  off.  At this  critical  juncture there was no light in the auditorium.  It  was  in total  darkness.  According to the statements of several  viewers  recorded under  section 161 Cr.P.C. there was no arrangement of emergency lights  in the  hall. The viewers could not be warned to leave the hall in time  since the public address system was not functioning. Besides, the staff ran  away without  opening  the doors of the auditorium. It has also  come  in  their statements that the staff rendered no assistance to the viewers in securing their  evacuation from the auditorium. Several balcony viewers died due  to asphyxiation. In a nut shell the main allegations against the petitoners are  that (1) public address system of the cinema was not working and as  a result  thereof  the  viewers were not warned in time to  escape  from  the auditorium,  (2) the exit and the gangway lights were not functioning,  (3) there  was  no  emergency light, (4) the staff of the  auditorium  did  not render any worthwhile assistance to the viewers in making good their escape to safety, (5) the parking was meant to accommodate 15 cars but as  against that  33  cars were parked, some of them near the D.V.B.  transformer,  (6) fire extinguishers in the auditorium were either missing or were empty, and (7) tank meant as part of the fire fighting equipment was empty. Mr. Lekhi, learned  senior  counsel for the respondent, took pains to  point  out  the above  short comings with reference to the material on record.  Apart  from highlighting  these specific accusations against the petitioners,  he  contended  that there has been wholesale flouting of norms. In this regard  he submitted  that  (i) in the balcony adequate number of gangways  and  exits were not provided affecting ingress and egress, (ii) more seats were created  at the cost of gangways and exits, (iii) commercial areas were  created including  a  panwari  shop thereby reducing the circulation  area  in  the building, (iv) space meant for car parking outside the cinema was  occupied by  stairs  in front of main entrance and other  entrances,  (v)  sprinkler meant for fire fighting was not connected to the water tank, (vi) there was inadequate  space  in the gallery outside the balcony. As per  the  learned counsel, all this constitutes violation of various provisions of the  statute law, rules and bye-laws. On the other hand, Mr. Mathur, learned  senior counsel  for the petitioners, vehemently refuted the allegations.  However, after elaborate arguments learned counsel on both the sides agreed that the accusations from (i) to (vi) above do not concern the petitioners and  need not be taken into consideration for the purposes of this application.\n<\/p>\n
 3.   Mr.  Mathur, in regard to accusations (1) to (7) above contended  that petitioners have not committed any of the offences mentioned in the  F.I.R. He submitted that adequate precautions were taken by the management for the safety  of the patrons. He urged that the incident occurred as a result  of an accident for which the petitioners were not at fault. According to  him, the explosion took place in the transformer belonging to the D.V.B. and the petitioners  did not have any access to the transformer room which is  kept locked by the D.V.B. He submitted that it is the D.V.B. which is wholly and solely  concerned with the upkeep and maintenance of the same. It was  contended  that the fire safety equipment in the cinema hall was in a  working condition  and  the water tank meant for extinguishing fire  did  not  lack water.  Learned  counsel urged that sections 304 and 436  I.P.C.  were  not attracted  taking  the accusations on their face value. He  also  submitted that  the staff of the cinema hall did everything possible to evacuate  the persons who were trapped in the auditorium. He asserted that all the  doors of  the auditorium were thrown open at the time of the  explosion.  Learned counsel  placed on record various photographs of the auditorium in  support of his contentions.\n<\/p>\n
 4.   I  have  considered  the submissions of the learned  counsel  for  the parties.  At this stage, it is not necessary to meticulously examine,  analyse the material on record and sift evidence. At present what has to  been seen  is whether a prima facie case has been established against the  petitioners. As already pointed out, the viewers who were trapped in the cinema have  cried  out their woes in their statements under section  161  Cr.P.C. They have in unequivocal terms blamed the petitioners for their blameworthy conduct at the time of the incident. One can imagine the harrowing  experience of the viewers in a pitch dark hall, full of toxic gases, with  little or no assistance from the management for finding their way to safety. Prima facie  there is no reason why the surviving victims would negate the  claim of  the petitioners if they had rendered assistance to the persons  trapped in  the  hall. At this stage, there is no worthwhile reason  to  doubt  the claim  of the surviving viewers that the petitioners ran away and  did  not even open the doors of the auditorium. According to them there was not even an emergency light in the hall. It has also been found in the investigation that  public address system of the cinema was not functioning. This  factor contributed to the loss of time in warning the viewers of the disaster.\n<\/p>\n
 5.   The  next question to be considered is whether bail should be  refused to  the  petitioners  on the ground that prima facie a  case  is  made  out against them. It appears to me that even when a prima facie case is  established,  the  approach of the court in the matter of bail is not  that  the accused should be detained indefinitely by way of punishment, but what must be  considered  is whether the accused would be readily available  for  his trial  and  whether  he is likely to abuse the discretion  granted  in  his favour  by  tampering with evidence. Thus, viewing the  matter  and  having regard to the fact that the petitioners are in custody since June 14, 1997, i.e.,  for a period of over forty days, and they are merely  minions  under the control of their masters, I am inclined to accept their application for grant  of  bail.  Accordingly, the petitioners will be  released  on  their furnishing  personal bonds in the sum of Rs.20,000\/- (Rupees  twenty  thousand)  each with one surety each of the like amount to the satisfaction  of the  concerned court subject to the condition that they will not leave  the territorial  jurisdiction of this Court and will not tamper with  the  evidence, and will make themselves available as and when called by the  Investigating  Officer  for  the purpose of investigation.  The  application  is disposed of. Dasti.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Delhi High Court Krishan Lal Malhotra & Ors. vs Govt. Of Nct Delhi on 1 July, 1997 Author: A D Singh Bench: A D Singh ORDER Anil Dev Singh, J. 1. This is an application filed by the petitioners under section 439 Cr.P.C. The petitioners, who are the managerial staff of the Uphaar Cinema, are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-delhi-high-court","category-high-court"],"yoast_head":"\nKrishan Lal Malhotra & Ors. vs Govt. 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