Goa nightclub fire: Luthra brothers granted bail; to remain jailed for alleged NOC forgery

NEW DELHI: A Goa court on Wednesday granted bail to brothers Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, owners of the Birch by Romeo nightclub, where a fire killed 25 people in December last year.The court of the additional sessions judge in Merces, Goa, granted bail to the Luthras, who had fled to Thailand after the incident and were later extradited.The accused were represented by senior advocate Subodh Kantak.However, the Luthras will not be released from jail as the Mapusa police took the brothers into custody on Monday in connection with the alleged forgery of a no-objection certificate (NOC).The Goa government initiated criminal proceedings against the club owners over alleged negligence and violation of mandatory safety norms after the nightclub fire on December 6, 2025.According to police, the Luthra brothers, despite knowing that there were no emergency exit doors on the ground or deck floors for evacuation in an emergency, organised the fire show.The Goa Police had filed a criminal case dated December 7 at the Police Station Arpora Anjuna, North Goa, under sections 105, 125, 125(a), 125(b), and 287, read with 3(5) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023.In January, the state government dismissed Arpora Village Panchayat Sarpanch, Roshan Redkar, and Panchayat Secretary of Arpora-Nagoa Village Panchayat, Raghuvir Bagkar, from service, finding "persistent negligence" in the case.The Directorate of Panchayats, based on the Magisterial Inquiry Committee Report on the nightclub mishap, noted that the Sarpanch "presided over meetings where the irregularities of the subject premises were either ignored or tacitly approved."The report noted that the Birch establishment was initially operated in a temporary shed and was converted into a nightclub "without any approved building plans."(With ANI inputs)