Panaji: The District and Sessions Court in Mapusa rejected the bail plea of the Luthra brothers — Sourav and Gaurav Luthra, owners and operators of Birch by Romeo Lane, the Goa nightclub where 25 people died in a devastating fire on the intervening night of December 6 and 7.
Luther brothers to remain in jail as Mapusa court denies bail in Arpora nightclub fire that killed 25District Judge Apurba Nagvenkar announced this verdict in open court on Thursday.
Defense lawyer Parag Rao, representing the Luthra brothers, said they would wait for a copy of the order before deciding their future course of action.
“The court has announced that it has rejected the bail application. We do not have the copy of the order. Once we get the copy, we will know what weight the court had in rejecting the applications and how the court dealt with our submissions, especially our contention that Section 105 (relating to culpable homicide of BNS) did not amount to murder,” Raha said.
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“We will take legal recourse after seeing the judgment as there is an option to go to the High Court, but we have to take directions from the client and accordingly we will take future steps,” he added.
Advocate Vishnu Joshi, representing the families of the victims in the tragedy, said the denial of bail represented a small step towards justice for the families who lost loved ones in the tragedy.
“Today is the day of justice for those people who suffered and those who lost family members in the tragedy and the first step towards victory. Yes, it will be a long fight, but we will fight till its completion, till they are convicted. Truth has won,” Joshi said.
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The Arpora fire tragedy at Birch on Romeo Lane, an illegally operated nightclub, occurred on the intervening night of December 6 and 7, 2025, and killed 25 people. The brothers, who flew to Thailand within hours of the tragedy, were repatriated to India after Interpol issued notices against them and suspended their passports. They were later arrested and kept in custody since then.
Twenty-five people – five tourists and 20 staff – died after the fire, caused by electrically triggered pyro sparklers as part of an ongoing dance performance at the nightclub. The sparklers allegedly ignited the roof made of bamboo and other natural materials.
The Goa police have, till date, arrested five managers of the club; Malik Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra; Luther brothers business partner Ajay Gupta; and Roshan Redkar and Raghubir Bagkar, sarpanch and panchayat secretary respectively, who allegedly allowed the club to operate without a licence.
The FIR, filed on December 7, has been charged under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 125(a) and (b) (endangering life and personal safety), and 287 (negligent handling of fire or inflammable matter) of the Indian Penal Code.
A second FIR has also been filed against Luthras and Ajay Gupta for cheating and forgery for allegedly forging documents as part of the application process.
The brothers are also being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate, which had identified them in a raid conducted last month ₹22 crores of assets which it said were “proceeds of crime.”
