Uphaar tragedy case: Supreme Court refuses to grant relief to Gopal Ansal, asks him to surrender today

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant relief to Gopal Ansal, asking him to surrender today to undergo one-year sentence in Uphaar tragedy case. Ansal had moved the court with fresh plea seeking more time to surrender.

Ansal’s lawyer Ram Jethmalani appeared for Gopal Ansal and  informed the court that his client has already filed a mercy petition before the President, therefore, he may be granted some time to surrender.

The apex court declined the request,  saying that it does not have the power to look into the mercy plea as the three judge bench has already given its judgement in the case.

Uphaar cinema case: Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani had appeared for Gopal Ansal. SC refused to give more time to Ansal to surrender (file pic) pic.twitter.com/XZxkBVIRfd

— ANI (@ANI_news) March 20, 2017

On March 9, Real estate baron Gopal Ansal failed in his last-ditch attempt to avoid serving the remaining period of one-year jail in the Uphaar fire tragedy case as the Supreme Court had rejected his appeal.

The apex court had dismissed his petition for parity with his elder brother Sushil Ansal, who was awarded jail term already undergone by him considering his "age-related complications", and directed him to surrender on March 20 to serve the prison term.

Also Read | Uphaar fire tragedy: SC dismisses Gopal Ansal's plea, asks him to surrender on Mar 20

During the hearing, Gopal Ansal's counsel Ram Jethmalani had claimed that Gopal's health has deteriorated and he was "almost a dead person". He also said that Gopal is "practically living on charity".