JUDGEMENT
KURIAN, J. -
(1.) Review Petitioners seek modification mainly of the sentence awarded to the accused - Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal as per the Orders of this Court
dated 19.08.2015 and 22.09.2015 in the Criminal Appeals. It is the main
contention of Mr. Harish N. Salve, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the
Central Bureau of Investigation that there is no provision for substitution
of sentence by fine. It is also the case of the Review Petitioners that the
accused-1 and 2 deserve the maximum sentence under Section 304 A of The
Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as "the Code"). Having
also heard Mr. Ashok H. Desai, Mr. Salman Khurshid, Mr. K.T.S. Tulsi, Mr.
K. Radhakrishnan and Ms. Rebecca John, learned Senior Counsels appearing on
both sides, we feel it necessary to refer to the background of the case as
reflected in the various orders passed by this Court.
(2.) In Sushil Ansal v. State Through Central Bureau of Investigation vs. (2014) 6 SCC 173 , at paragraphs-27 and 28, this Court dealt with the conviction and sentence of
the trial court:
"27. In conclusion and on the basis of the findings recorded by it, the trial court convicted Sushil Ansal (A-1) and Gopal Ansal (A-2) for commission of the offences punishable under Sections 304-A, 337 and 338 read with Section 36 IPC and sentenced each one of them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years with a fine of Rs 5000 and a default sentence of six months. They were also convicted under Section 14 of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and sentenced to pay a fine of Rs 1000 or undergo two months ' imprisonment in default. All the sentences were directed to run concurrently. The trial court further convicted S.S. Sharma (A-13) and N.D. Tiwari (A-14) who were officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi apart from H.S. Panwar (A-15), Divisional Officer, Delhi Fire Service under the above provisions and sentenced them similarly to undergo two years ' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5000 besides default sentence of six months ' imprisonment. In addition, the trial court found the charges framed against the Managers of GPT, namely, R.K. Sharma (A-5), N.S. Chopra (A-6) and Assistant Manager Ajit Choudhary (A-7) as well as gatekeeper Manmohan Uniyal (A-8) under Section 304 read with Section 36 IPC proved and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of seven years with a fine of Rs 5000 and a default sentence of six months.
28. B.M. Satija (A-9) and A.K. Gera (A-10) who happened to be DVB Inspectors at the relevant point of time and Bir Singh (A-11) who happened to be DVB Senior Fitter were similarly convicted under Section 304 read with Section 36 IPC and sentenced to undergo seven years ' rigorous imprisonment besides a fine of Rs 5000 and a default sentence of six months ' imprisonment. Proceedings against R.M. Puri (A-3), Director of GPT and K.L. Malhotra (A-4) Deputy General Manager, S.N. Dandona (A-12) Executive Engineer, PWD and Surender Dutt (A-16) Station Officer, Delhi Fire Service, all of whom died during the pendency of the trial, were held to have abated. Not only that, the trial court directed further investigation into the matter under Section 173(8) CrPC in regard to other persons including Amod Kanth, DCP (L) for allowing the Cinema to function on temporary permits and for not demanding the detailed inspection reports before issuing such permits." (Emphasis supplied)
(3.) Paragraph-29 deals with details of appeals filed in High Court:
"29. Aggrieved by the judgment and order passed against them, all the 12 accused persons convicted by the trial court preferred appeals before the Delhi High Court. The Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy also filed a revision petition challenging the judgment and order of the trial court to the extent that the same convicted the accused persons only for offences punishable under Section 304-A IPC instead of Section 304 Part II IPC." (Emphasis supplied) ;
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