Delhi court dismisses Luthra brothers’ transit anticipatory bail

A Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the transit anticipatory bail plea of Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Goa where a massive fire last week killed 25 people.

On Wednesday, the duo sought four weeks of transit anticipatory bail so that they were not immediately arrested after their return to Delhi from Thailand. However, the plea was dismissed by Additional Sessions Judge Vandana.

During the proceedings, counsel for the state of Goa opposed the plea, saying, “They left, they concealed, and they are now seeking leniency.”

The counsel further argued that the document placed on record by the applicant along with application itself shows that the licence agreement, trade licence and lease deed had already expired and no fire permission was taken by the applicant from the department concerned.

It is further argued that the applicant has made false averments in the application that he left to Phuket (Thailand) on December 6, prior to the incident. However, as per information received from IndiGo airlines, tickets to Phuket (Thailand) were booked on December 7 at 1.17 am. Therefore, the applicant fled immediately the next morning after learning about the incident, the state counsel argued.

Luthra brothers’ lawyer Tanveer Ahmed argued that the siblings were being portrayed as fugitives even though they had informed their travel agent of their plans on December 6.

He said properties belonging to the family were being vandalised and alleged

personal vendetta by government agencies, claiming a threat to their lives. Ahmed said his clients would return to India regardless of the verdict.

Ahmed said the Luthra brothers were businessmen, not someone who fled the country after committing a Rs 5,000-crore financial fraud.

“In view of the aforesaid reasons, and without expressing any opinion on the merits or veracity of the allegations, this court finds no ground to entertain the present application seeking transit anticipatory bail and suspend the LOC. Accordingly, the application is dismissed,” the court order read.