New Delhi [India], July 8 : The Delhi High Court on Monday issued a notice to police on a plea moved by real estate baron Gopal Ansal, convicted in the Uphaar fire tragedy case, for quashing an FIR lodged against him in a cheating case.
The FIR has been lodged on a complaint filed by a buyer of land in a project developed by Ansal Buildwell Limited. Justice Amit Mahajan issued notice to Delhi Police and sought a status report. The matter has been listed for hearing on September 10.
The High Court has also directed the state not to take coercive steps against the petitioner till the next date of hearing. The bench has also issued a notice to the complainant in the matter upon the filing of the amended memos of the parties.
Gopal Ansal has filed a petition seeking quashing of the FIR registered on February 11, 2025, at Police Station Barakhamba Road for the offences under Sections 420, 406, 120B of the Indian Penal Code.
The said FIR was registered on a complaint given by Manoj Anand, alleging that he had paid a sum of Rs 3,56,000 regarding the purchase of certain land in a project being developed by the accused's company, Ansal Buildwell Limited.
Gopal Ansal is stated to be the director of the accused company at the relevant time. It is alleged that no property was ever handed over to the complainant, Anand, the High Court noted.
Advocate Sushil Kumar Gupta, counsel for Gopal Ansal, submitted that the project could not see the light of day since the Jaipur Development Authority did not give permission to convert the status of the land.
He submitted that various letters were written to the complainant for a refund of money. However, no response was received, and the complaint has now belatedly been made after almost two decades.
Upon learning this fact, the High Court also stated, "Prima facie, this Court has been unable to figure out why such an FIR after two decades was registered by the police authorities."
It was also submitted that the accused company, even otherwise, had always been willing to refund the entire money with reasonable interest to the complainant.
Ansal's counsel further submitted that to show his bona fide, a sum of Rs 10,00,000 shall be deposited by Anand with the Registrar General of this court within a period of four weeks.
Gopal Ansal to a seven-year jail term for tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of Uphaar cinema fire which claimed 59 lives.
Earlier in November 2021, a Delhi court had sentenced real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal to a seven-year jail term for tampering with evidence in the 1997 case of the Uphaar cinema fire, which claimed 59 lives. The fire broke out at the Uphaar cinema during the screening of the Hindi film Border on June 13, 1997.