Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost their two teenage children to the tragedy, release a book ‘Trial By Fire’ chronicling their struggle to get justice

“I should have just shot those responsible for the deaths of my children” instead of “making the mistake” of relying on the judiciary for justice, writes Neelam Krishnamoorthy in her book Trial By Fire, which chronicles the aftermath of the Uphaar fire tragedy.

Co-authored with her husband Shekhar, the book — released on the cusp of the 20th anniversary of the tragedy where 59 people died of asphyxia in a fire in south Delhi’s Uphaar cinema in June 1997 — recounts the nearly two decades of consuming, but relentless, battle to avenge the victims of what is unequivocally considered one of the most catastrophic fire tragedies to have ever occurred in the country.

The couple lost their two children, Unnati, 17, and Ujjwal, 13, in the fire

“I regret having pursued the Uphaar case so vigorously for 19 years. I should have just shot those responsible for the deaths of my children and the 57 others. I would have pleaded insanity... By now, I would have finished serving my sentence...” Ms. Krishnamoorthy reads out while seated in a corner of her living room near the photographs of two visibly happy teenagers, whose loss to the fatal inferno changed her life forever.

“In fact,” she says, looking up, “I believe I made a mistake going to the courts. I think I would have achieved some closure had I picked up a gun instead. Even if it had been just a semblance of it. You can lose your money, your property or something that you may have struggled to achieve to the point of exhaustion but nothing can be equated to, or compensate for, the loss of your children.”

Ms. Krishnamoorthy’s sentiments, she notes in the book, were echoed in the Parliament on December 22, 2015 by a prominent MP during a debate on the Juvenile Justice Bill. A symptom, she reckons, of the fact that “even the lawmakers have lost faith in our criminal justice system”.

‘ Freedom for Rs. 60 crore’

Ms. Krishnamoorthy, who is the Convenor of the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), says the book has been penned bit by bit over the last two years based on notes scribbled after court appearances and those jotted down in the midst of acute depression late on sleepless nights.

She admits the book couldn’t be finished on time as they were unable to write a single word for nearly two months after the shattering Supreme Court verdict delivered last August.

On August 19, 2015, the Supreme Court decided to reduce the prison sentence imposed on the owners of the Uphaar cinema on account of their age and instead told them to pay Rs. 60 crore to the State government as penalty intended for the construction of a trauma centre.

“Blood money that was gladly accepted by the Delhi government without the slight courtesy of even informing the next of kin of the victims and not even a single year behind bars for the accused; squarely disappointing as it is, if the Delhi Chief Minister has a conscience he will choose not to spend even a penny from the Ansals,” Ms. Krishnamoorthy says.

“And what can one say about the verdict per se? Over the last 19 years, the system has done everything it could to erode our faith in it. The judges concerned took cognisance of the age of the Ansals but what about the fact that their victims, Unnati and Ujjwal were in their teens and had their whole lives ahead of them? Do only the ages of the moneyed and powerful matter and not of their victims?” Ms. Krishnamoorthy asks, adding: “not only must justice be done, it must also be seen to be done”.

Naming names

As the trial drags on — even as relatively newer cases such as the Nitish Katara murder case have finally culminated in the incarceration of the accused — the Krishnamoorthys have decided to include a final chapter to the present book viz. the final verdict of the Uphaar case and then some.

“We’re already working on a sequel to the book ; there’s a lot that we had to hold back, so many names that were deliberately left unnamed because we didn’t want the book’s release to be jeopardised. The sequel won’t be along similar compulsions,” Ms. Krishnamoorthy says.

“It will be released after we’re both gone. Neither of us will be left to deal with defamation cases then,” Mr. Krishnamoorthy adds.

We’re already working on a sequel to the book... there’s a lot that we had to hold back, so many names that were deliberately left unnamed because we didn’t want the book’s release to be jeopardised. The sequel won’t be along similar compulsions...

it will be released after we’re both gone. Neither of us will be left to deal with defamation cases then