Sushil Ansal after getting bail. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, Nov. 23: Uphaar theatre owners Sushil and Gopal Ansal, found guilty of negligence leading to the death of 59 people in a fire ten years back, walked out of court smiling today — handed jail terms, they were granted bail immediately after.

“We are very disappointed. They were not sent behind bars even for 59 hours. They haven’t even spent an hour inside,” said Neelam Krishnamurthy, whose two teenaged children were among the 59 who suffocated to death on June 13, 1997.

The victims were watching the film Border in the theatre when a spark from a faulty transformer in the basement started the fire.

The Ansal brothers, big players in real estate, were handed two years each in prison by a Delhi court for “causing several deaths” by their “negligent” act of failing to ensure fire-safety measures.

The court said they “allowed installation of the transformer” knowing this was in violation of norms. “The occurrence of the incident started from the transformer. It became the direct and proximate cause of death,” the court said, before releasing the brothers on a personal bond and surety of Rs 25,000 each.

“We will go to the high court now,” said Krishnamurthy, who heads the Association for Victims of Uphaar.

MCD officials S.S. Sharma and N.D. Tiwari and Delhi fire service employee H.S. Panwar, who were also given two-year terms, walked free after furnishing a personal bond and surety of Rs 6,000 each.

Additional sessions judge Mamta Sehgal denied bail to seven other convicts, who were given seven years’ rigorous imprisonment each.

Radha Krishan Sharma, N.S. Chopra and Ajit Chowdhary, managers at the Uphaar theatre, and gatekeeper Manmohan Unniyal were immediately taken into custody along with Delhi Vidyut Board officials Brij Mohan Satija, A.K. Gera and Bir Singh.

The Uphaar employees were punished for running away without caring to unbolt the theatre doors, and the Vidyut Board staff for neglecting to repair the transformer.

The court also directed a CBI probe to see if there was a collusion between the office of the deputy commissioner of police (licensing) and the theatre owners.

The investigation will cover all officers heading the department from 1979 to June 1997. The theatre was repeatedly granted temporary permits to operate and did not have a proper licence.