New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) Supreme Court has  decided to begin hearing from today onwards the plea of convicts -- Sushil and Gopal Ansal -- in the 18-year-old Uphaar cinema fire case ago where 59 cinegoers had died due to asphyxia. A three-judge bench of the top court, comprising Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Amitava Roy, decided to hear from Monday onwards the appeal of the Ansals' which has been kept "top of the board" after the victims' association had moved the court for it. Neelam Krishnamoorthy, President of Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), said the convicts-- Ansals -- on one plea or the other adjourned the case and tried to linger the matter. "I sincerely hope that the Ansals' lawyers will not seek another adjournment. Because, this is the ploy adopted by them each time the matter is listed for hearing. They ask for it as they do not wish to go behind the bars," Ms Krishnamoorthy said. Ansal brothers, who owned Ansal Theatre and Clubotels (P) Ltd, which ran Uphaar cinema, were held guilty by the SC of criminal negligence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the SC in March last year by a division bench of two judges comprising Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and Gyan Sudha Mishra. The SC, in its order, held Ansal brothers' guilty and sentenced them to jail already they had undergone. "The jail term undergone by them was sufficient," the top court had said. While Sushil had spent over five months in prison, Gopal was in jail for over four months during the entire trial which almost continued for more than 15 years in the case. The top court also slapped a penalty of Rs 30 crore each to the Ansals and asked them to deposit the total fine amount with the Delhi government within three months. Fifty-nine people, trapped in the balcony of the theatre in South Delhi, had died of asphyxia following the fire and over 100 were injured in the subsequent stampede on June 13, 1997 during the screening of Bollywood film “Border”. The fire broke out during the 1500 to 1800 hrs screening of the movie. Ms Krishnamoorthy, who lost her daughter Unnati and son Ujwal in the tragedy, has fought the case for the victims. UNI XC AJ 2253