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Uphaar Fire Tragedy: SC Orders Gopal Ansal To Surrender On 9 March

Ansal has in his plea requested to be treated at par with his elder brother Sushil, who was allowed to skip prison citing old age and ill-health.
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Indian real estate businessman businessman Gopal Ansal (C) is escorted to the prison at the Patiala House Court in New Delhi on September 11, 2008.

NEW DELHI -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered real estate entrepreneur Gopal Ansal to surrender on 9 March in connection with the Uphaar fire tragedy case.

Earlier this week, the apex court fixed Ansal's plea seeking modification of its review order on parity in connection with the case for 8 March.

Ansal has in his plea requested to be treated at par with his elder brother Sushil, who was allowed to skip prison citing old age and ill-health.

The apex court sentenced Ansal to a one-year jail term on 9 February.

The review petitions of the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy ( AVUT) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were dismissed by the court.

Founder association of victims of the Uphaar tragedy, Neelam Krishnamoorthy, asserted that Ansal has been trying to delay the process of surrendering from a very long time.

"For the last ten days, Ansal has been trying to delay and derail the process of surrendering. Whenever his date comes for surrendering, he makes an excuse to seek extension. Today also, it was another attempt by his counsel to make sure that this matter is posted after Holi break, but thankfully the court has refused it and has posted for tomorrow morning 10:30," Neelam told ANI.

"As parents we have fought to get justice and after doing so much we have to face such hurdles. People like them with power and money can easily take advantage and change dates every time," she added while expressing anguish over the matter.

At least 59 people died of asphyxia and over 100 others were injured in the stampede after fire broke out in Uphaar cinema on 13 June, 1997, during the screening of J.P. Dutta's film Border.

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17 Women Unfurled Beautiful Memories After Donning Their Mothers Saris
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"It took my mother six months to embroider this sari. The intricate Kashmiri embroidery is not easy to pull off - her back ached, her eyes strained but she didn't give up and eventually gave this to me as a wedding present. I know I will drape my mother's blessings, each time I drape this sari." (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Shagun Seda Sengupta, 34, Creative Director(02 of17)
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"This is a 23 year old pure chiffon sari from Mysore that my father gifted my mother. I love how it's so simple yet so striking. Since it was a gift from my father, I never had the nerve to ask my mother to give it to me. On her 60th birthday, in a fit of motherly love she finally gave me this sari." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Uma Prakash Shetty, 23 (in this photo), Homemaker(03 of17)
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"As a young girl I loved raiding my mother's wardrobe and wearing her finest saris. Today my daughter does the same with mine." (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Preeti Verma, 33, Owner and Designer Runaway Bicycle(04 of17)
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"This is a 35 year old Benarasi sari that my mother got as a wedding gift from my father's family. Over the years the sari tore in places but she loved it so much she darned it with bright green flowers. My mother's love for it makes this sari even more special to me." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Garima Sharma, 23, Freelance Writer(05 of17)
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"The sari belonged to my nani. And even though it is a few years old, pink and looks like it was made for serene, elegant and god-fearing good girls, I adore it. When she was taken really ill, my nani still wore saris, and she kept this one for special occasions. It's not very well worn though because she passed away after a long battle with heart trouble. She was very important to me and her death affected me profoundly. I am very rootless about sentiment and in the wake of her death, some of the smaller islands of her life have remained in the form of the few precious items that I have inherited from her." (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Hetal Ajmera, 35, Designer and partner, Sharpener Inc.(06 of17)
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"I like dressing comfortably, so I never wanted to wear a sari, I felt I would hate it. But we had one of those family functions where I had no choice but to wear one, so I picked this from my mom's cupboard. It was the first sari I wore, it was soft, easy and surprisingly very comfortable. I've loved wearing saris ever since." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Bollamma Apaya, 82, Homemaker(07 of17)
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"This is 53 years old, it's a Dharmavaram sari. It's a special memory for me because it is the last sari my mother gave me before she passed away." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Ankitha Sista, 25(08 of17)
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" This is a 34-year old sari and my mother saved her salary for a couple of months to buy it because she set her heart on it when she saw it. Two decades later, this turned out to be my personal favourite, much to her surprise. She gave it away to me as a reminder of how we agreed on the same thing for once. " (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Priyanka Bose, 34, Actor(09 of17)
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"25 years ago, my father bought this Dhakai sari for my mother from Bangladesh and she kept it aside for me. He always had immaculate taste for her when it came to saris. I always say, as we Bengalis don't inherit money, we inherit ma's saris." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Archana, 23, Domestic Help(10 of17)
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"This sari belonged to my aunt. My own mother passed away when I was very little, but my aunt brought me up like her own daughter. This is not a very old sari, but it was bought by my aunt for herself and she gave it to me because I loved it so much." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Supriya, 31, Ad Film Maker(11 of17)
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"This is a 34 year old Benarasi sari that my mother wore for her wedding and when she passed it on to me, I wore it for mine." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Neepa Sheth, 49(12 of17)
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Sheth is wearing a 26 year old Kanjeevaram sari that was passed down from her mother as part of her wedding trousseau - Soup (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Diksha Basu, 32, Writer and Occasional Actor(13 of17)
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"This is one of the first saris I took from my mother because I love the colour scheme. We both wear a lot of red and black. These days we share our saris but when I wear this particular one I see flashes of my mother whenever I catch my reflection." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
Shilpa Colluru, 33, Marketing Professional(14 of17)
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"My mother was a teacher and she was known to never repeat her saris even for a single day. I've inherited her love for saris." (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Yalini Murukathas, 25, Legal Caseworker(15 of17)
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"My father bought this Kanjivaram silk sari for my mother days before he passed away. I was 9 years old. He used to lavish her with gifts so this is one of many, but one day I found a photo of Amma standing beside him draped in this sari. He looked so happy. I like to think he would have been at least half as happy had he been here to see me in it 16 years later." (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Nirmala Mayur Patil, 33, Writer/Photographer(16 of17)
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"As orphans and beginning their life together from scratch, this first mysore silk sari papa got for ma meant a great deal for both. For me today, although aged and fraying around the edges, it narrates their tale and is a tangible reminder of where I came from." (credit:Soup/ Facebook)
Ankita Kohli, 28, Freelance Creative Consultant(17 of17)
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"This is one of my mother's college saris. A part of me always wonders about my mother as a young college girl when I now wear this sari as a grown woman." (credit:Vijit Gupta/ Soup)
-- This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.