Goa club fire: Rohini court rejects bail plea of Luthra brothers

A Rohini court on Wednesday refused to provide immediate interim relief to Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Goa’s Arpora where a fire incident killed 25 persons, including staff and tourists, last week.

The duo had sought four weeks of transit anticipatory bail, claiming that they want to return to the country and join investigation.

The plea was moved on their behalf in the Rohini court on Wednesday through which the duo claimed that they had travelled to Thailand for work and not to escape the law.

In their petition, the Luthras argued that criminal liability cannot be fixed on them as they were not present at the nightclub when the fire broke out.

Senior advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, appearing for the Luthras, submitted that the nightclub is managed by their partners and operational staff. He stated that the Luthras have three business partners and run several business units. They do not personally oversee day-to-day functioning of any of their ventures.

The franchise managers oversee routine operations, he said, adding that the club where the fire occurred was also run under this structure.

Mir argued that liability lies rests with those running the operations - the partners or managers, he said, pointing out that the relevant operational managers have already been arrested.

Senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, also representing the Luthra brothers, said he had only one “simple” request - that the accused be allowed to return to India and approach the local court in Goa.

“They too are victims. I am also deeply concerned and hurt by this incident,” he said. The prosecution, however, argued that the case was not fit for trial.

The Goa Police have already arrested Ajay Gupta, one of the partners and among the four owners of the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub. Gupta allegedly feigned a spinal injury and admitted himself to a hospital in an attempt to evade arrest, but the tactic failed. He claimed he was only a “sleeping (silent) partner” of the Luthras.