Justice H R Malhotra, to whose court the case was transferred on Thursday, will hear the case on January 22.

Unhappy with a two-year prison term given to the five accused, including the Ansals, families of some of the 59 victims urged the High Court to treat their crimes as culpable homicide.

“In spite of overwhelming evidence against that had come on record indicating active knowledge on part of the accused that their acts or omission were likely to cause death, and which in effect, did cause the death of 59 innocent persons. The Judge unfortunately failed to even deal with the issue...” Association for Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) criticised the November 23 decision of the sessions court in its revision petition.

Besides the Ansals, other accused named in the petition has named three other accused, namely, former Delhi Fire Service officer H S Panwar, S S Sharma and N D Tiwari — both formerly of the MCD.