Offences against Luthras not among most heinous: Court

Panaji: The offences of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against Birch by Romeo Lane owners Gaurav Luthra, 44, and Saurabh Luthra, 40, do not fall within the category of most heinous crimes such as murder, where punishment may extend to death or mandatory life imprisonment, a Mapusa court observed in its order granting them bail.

The fire at Birch by Romeo Lane, Arpora, last Dec claimed the lives of 25 people.

The court observed that the Luthra brothers have been in custody since Dec 16 for over three months, and said prolonged incarceration without likelihood of early conclusion of trial would amount to pretrial punishment.

It stated that culpable homicide not amounting to murder, where there is no knowledge and no intention to, is of a comparatively lesser degree than offences involving intention to cause death. The Luthras are “not accused of an offence of the gravest nature, such as murder, and the allegations, at the highest, do not attribute any intention to cause death,” stated additional sessions judge 1, North Goa, Mapusa, Dvijple V Patkar.

The court stated that it has to balance the interest of society with the fundamental right to the Luthras’ personal liberty. It observed that the chargesheet has been filed, indicating the conclusion of the investigation, and that the case is at the initial stage.

The trial is not likely to conclude in the near future considering prevailing “docket explosion, number of old cases, custody/undertrial prisoners’ cases, direction matters and nature of proceedings, including the fact that the chargesheet runs into more than 4,000 pages, comprising several documents and citing 306 witnesses, including outstation witnesses, and arraigning 13 accused persons”, the court held. “Continued incarceration would thus be punitive, which is legally impermissible,” it held.

The Luthra brothers, represented by advocate Parag Rao, told the court that no specific role in the commission of any of the alleged offences has been attributed to them in the chargesheet. The allegations are framed generically against the partners and managers, Rao told the court.

Anjuna police objected to the bail considering the severity of punishment, the scale of the incident, and the gravity of the offence. Granting bail would shake the confidence of society in the criminal justice system, the PI had stated.

Public prosecutor J Santamaria, objecting to their bail, stated that they disregarded the law and human life by fleeing the country, and added that they are in a position of influence over their employees and witnesses. She argued that the offences against them are grave, resulting in the death of 25 people, where the material witnesses are all employees of Birch.

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Order reserved in NOC forgery case

Panaji: A Mapusa court has reserved for Wednesday its order in the bail applications of Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra in the NOC forgery case registered by Mapusa police. The brothers and owners of Birch by Romeo Lane were granted bail in the main fire matter last week, but were then taken into custody by Mapusa police in connection with the forgery case, for which they have not been granted bail yet. They were accused of using a fake NOC from the Candolim health centre to run the nightclub. Mapusa police registered a separate FIR on the complaint of the health officer of Candolim primary health centre stating that unauthorised persons of Birch impersonated him, forged his signature and made a forged entry in the register to get a health NOC. TNN