Neelam Krishnamoorthy, whose children were among the 59 people killed in the Uphaar fire tragedy, today met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and requested him not to accept the Rs 60-crore fine that builders Gopal and Sushil Ansal have been asked to pay by the Supreme Court.


"The CM said the Delhi Govt has enough money to build a trauma centre. He told us that we victims can decide its name of the hospital," Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost her two children in the Uphaar fire, said and added that Kejriwal had assured support for the victims and said he would be taking legal advice. The SC in its judgement said the Rs 60 crore should be given to the Delhi government to build a trauma centre.


"Will the money bring back my children? I am going to ask the Delhi government not to accept the money," said Krishnamoorthy whose son and daughter died in the devastating fire at Uphaar, a south Delhi cinema, 18 years ago.


On Wednesday, real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal escaped being jailed in the 18-year-old Uphaar Cinema fire tragedy in which 59 people died with the Supreme Court asking them to pay a fine of Rs 30 crore each and restricting their jail term to the period already undergone by them.


Overturning the pleas of CBI and the victims' association, a three-judge bench of Justices A R Dave, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel asked them to pay the total fine of Rs 60 crore in three months and deposit it with the Delhi government, which in turn will spend the money on welfare schemes.


While Sushil, 76, had spent over five months in prison, 67-year-old Gopal was in jail for over four months immediately after the tragedy. The bench rejected the submissions of senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for CBI, that the convicts be sent to jail to serve the remaining jail term.


Kejriwal said yesterday, "The Supreme Court judgment... has let down the country. Much more needs to be done to restore the faith of families of the victims in the country's justice delivery system."

At Uphaar, routes to fire exits had been blocked to plant extra seats, turning the cinema hall into a death trap when the fire broke out on June 13, 1997, during a screening of the Bollywood film "Border". Most of the 59 people killed were trapped in the balcony and died of asphyxiation. Over 100 people were injured.