Sushil Ansal, the 83-year-old real estate tycoon, has moved the Delhi High Court seeking a permanent and mandatory restrain on the release of the Netflix show “Trial by Fire” set to be released on January 13.

Ansal has also sought a restrain of the further publication of the book ‘Trial by Fire — The tragic tale of the Uphaar Tragedy’ authored by Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy published by Penguin Random House India Private Ltd on which the said series is stated to be based. The matter is listed before Justice Yashwant Varma for hearing on January 11. Apart from the main lawsuit, Ansal has in the interim sought an “ex-parte interim” restrain on the release of the book and the web series.

Ansal’s lawsuit claims that the official teaser of the web series, produced by y Endemol India Pvt Ltd, was released on January 4 and shows “direct references” to Ansal and his dramatized role in the June 1997 Uphaar Cinema Fire and its aftermath. It has been further stated that his portrayal in the trailer and teaser of the web series has caused and has the propensity to cause “immense and irreparable harm” to his reputation and his right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution as well as his privacy.

Ansal has claimed that he is now 83 and has been punished “both legally and socially” for his association with the Uphaar Tragedy. “The family of the Plaintiff have also suffered extensively on account of the incarceration of the Plaintiff. Further, the Plaintiff has struggled to achieve a semblance of normalcy in his life along with the lives of his family members in light of the mammoth effects of the Uphaar Tragedy, the conviction, and the social ramifications thereof,” the suit states.

The book was stated to have been released in 2016 when the review petitions in the main Uphaar case were still pending before the Supreme Court. As many as 59 people were killed in the fire.

“The Plaintiff had apologized before the Hon’ble Supreme Court to the families of the victims and had expressed deep remorse towards the unfortunate incident. While the Plaintiff is sympathetic towards the pain and grief caused to Defendant Nos 4 and 5 (Krishnamoorthys) along with several others who lost their loved ones, the Defendants ought not to make the Plaintiff perpetually liable to be rebuked by the public time and again, especially after having served the sentence and complying with the Orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” the plea states.

The lawsuit states that when he found out that the web series is based on the book authored by the Krishnamoorthys, he bought a copy of the same and was shocked to find that the book entails “a one-sided narration of the unfortunate incident” and that its tone is “highly emotional” and has instances of exaggerated, prejudicial and hyperbolic statements made against Ansal.

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Thursday rejected a petition moved by real estate baron Sushil Ansal seeking an ad interim stay on the release of an upcoming web series — Trial by Fire — based on the 1997 Uphaar fire tragedy, stating that the incident had made the “nation bow its head in shame”.

Ansal alleged that the show and the book, on which the show is based, defamed him and violated his right to privacy.

Observing that the OTT show alleges a systemic failure, manifests a cry of anguish against the manner in which the incident was prosecuted and tried, represents the perspective of parents who lost their teenaged children, the single bench of Justice Yashwant Varma said, “A fictional rendition of their trials and tribulations cannot, prima facie, be presumed to be defamatory. More fundamentally, their personal experience and perception of the incident or the culpability of the plaintiff would remain their belief, impression and understanding of the entire episode.”