The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on 3 March fresh plea of real estate baron Gopal Ansal seeking modification of its verdict asking him to serve the remaining jail term in the Uphaar fire case.
The tragedy had killed 59 persons at the cinema in 1997. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar has agreed to hear the matter.
The apex court had recently asked Gopal Ansal to undergo the remaining jail term in the case while his elder brother Sushil Ansal got relief from incarceration with a prison term already undergone by him in view of age-related complications.
The younger brother has sought similar relief claiming that he was 69 years old and would suffer irreparable damage to his health if he is sent to jail.
Senior advocate K T S Tulsi, appearing for the Association for Victims of Uphaar Tragedy, opposed the plea saying there cannot be a review of the review judgement.
Gopal Ansal moved the court urging it to modify its order sending him to jail, with almost a week left for him to surrender.
The court on 9 February sentenced the builder to one year in jail.
Gopal Ansal was to surrender by 9 March to serve seven months in jail as he has been jailed for four months previously.
He said the court could not deny him the same relief extended to Sushil Ansal because his medical condition too was equally precarious.
Goapl Ansal wants the court to extend the time of his surrender till it decides his application.
He said he has hearing impairment, due to which he claimed he has fainted several times.
Expressing "genuine remorse" for those who died in the "unfortunate tragedy", he contended he had borne the punishment more than he deserved.
The court had said that since Gopal Ansal, 69, did not suffer any age-related complications, as was the case with Sushil Ansal, 77, there could be no principle of parity and he must spend one year in prison.
The Ansals, who co-owned the Uphaar cinema in south Delhi, were held guilty of "criminal negligence" but escaped jail terms beyond a few months after the top court's 2015 order.
A huge fire broke out at Uphaar when Hindi movie "Border" was being screened on 13 June 1997. Trapped inside, 59 persons died of asphyxia and over 100 were injured in a stampede.