Goa Court Grants Bail To Luthra Brothers In Birch By Romeo Lane Nightclub Fire Tragedy Case

In a major development in the Goa nightclub fire tragedy, wherein 25 people died, a Sessions Court in Merces, Goa on Wednesday (April 1) granted bail to Sourabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra - the two owners of the Birch By Romeo Lane, a prominent nightclub in North Goa's Arpora area.

Confirming the development, Advocate Tushan Rawal, said, "The sessions court has granted regular bail to the Luthra brothers in connection with the alleged nightclub fire incident in Goa. However, they will not be released from jail at present, as the Mapusa Police on Monday (March 30) took custody of the Luthra brothers in connection with the alleged forgery of a no-objection certificate (NOC)."

A detailed copy of the order is yet to be made available.

Notably, a massive fire had broke out at the nightclub, killing 25 people, of which 20 were the staff members of the said nightclub and 5 were tourists. The massive fire also left several injured. Soon after the incident, the Luthra brothers had fled to Thailand. The Interpol had issued a Blue Notice against the Luthras to track their whereabouts and they were subsequently deported back to India. Thereafter, the duo was arrested.

Recently on March 27, a sessions court in Mapusa had refused to grant pre-arrest bail to the Luthras in the NOC forgery case, wherein the duo are accused of allegedly forging an NOC and signatures of the Health Officer, to fraudulently obtain an excise licence for serving liquor in their nightclub. Besides forgery, they are also booked under charges of criminal conspiracy.

Considering the provisions, the sessions judge had in the NOC Case, refused to grant them pre-arrest bail.

However, in the fire incident, they were granted bail today. In the case before the court in Merces, the Luthras were represented by Senior Advocate Subodh Kantak, along with Advocates Vaibhav Suri and Saud Khan and were instructed by SKRB Law Office.