The Goa District Court on Wednesday granted bail to the Luthra brothers – Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra – co-owners of Birch by Romeo Lane, a nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora village where a devastating fire killed 25 people – five tourists and 20 employees – last December.
This comes five days after the Goa District and Sessions Court refused anticipatory bail to the duo in a second case against them, alleging that they had submitted false documents in applications seeking permission to manage Birch from Romeo Lane, for which they are still in jail.
The fire at Birch by Romeo Lane, on the night between 6 and 7 December, was allegedly caused by thermal flares that were ignited by electricity as part of an ongoing dance show at the nightclub. The fireworks allegedly set fire to the roof – made of bamboo and other natural materials.
The brothers, who had flown to Thailand within hours of the tragedy, were returned to India after an Interpol notice was issued against them and their passports were suspended. They were later arrested on December 16 and have remained in custody since then.
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The duo was granted bail in exchange for executing bonds worth $50 thousand pounds and a bail of a similar amount, among other conditions, but they will remain in prison in the second case in which they are accused of submitting forged documents to obtain the various licenses necessary to run the club.
“It’s conditional bail, with the usual conditions. We don’t have a copy of the judgement [yet]. Once a copy of the ruling is available, we will know on what basis it was made [bail] “It has been granted,” said lawyer Parag Rao, who represents the Luthras.
The Goa Police have so far arrested five directors of the club. Owners Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra; Ajay Gupta, business partner of the Luthra brothers; Roshan Redkar and Raghuveer Bagkar, sarpanch and panchayat secretary, respectively, who allegedly allowed the club to operate without licences.
The FIR, filed on December 7, charges them under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125 (a) and (b) (endangering life and personal safety), and 287 (negligent conduct with fire or inflammable materials) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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Due to the defendants’ irresponsible actions, 25 people lost their lives, causing “irreparable loss that shattered 25 families, reflecting gross criminal negligence, a complete disregard for human life, and the defendants’ complete failure to adhere to legal and safety standards,” the indictment said.
The FIR said that the restaurant was operating without obtaining the required licenses and that the accused persons, “without taking due care and caution, and without providing fire safety equipment and other safety paraphernalia, organized a fire show at their restaurant/club which resulted in a serious fire resulting in the death of 25 innocent persons and also caused injury to tourists and employees, despite full knowledge that organizing such a show might lead to serious fire incidents…”
In the second FIR of alleged forgery and cheating, where the duo was accused of forging a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the health office and using it to obtain excise tax, licenses and other permissions to run the nightclub, the duo is currently in police custody.
