New Delhi: Citing “grave” and “serious” offences and charges against Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, the owners of the ‘Birch By Romeo Lane’ nightclub where 25 people died in a fire late Saturday night, a Delhi court Thursday junked their transit anticipatory bail pleas.
The fire at the nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora killed 25 people, including 20 kitchen staffers, who were suffocated to death in the basement. The rescuers did not have a clue about them till it was too late.
The court noted that the Luthras concealed that they had left India only hours after the fire broke out at their nightclub, instead claiming to have taken a flight out of India for work beforehand.
An investigation by the Goa Police has revealed that the brothers took an Indigo flight at 5:20 am Sunday, hours after the Mapusa fire station received reports of the fire at ‘Birch By Romeo Lane’ at 11:45 pm Saturday.
On Thursday, the police submitted to the court that the Luthras booked tickets at 1:17 am Sunday and fled abroad to avoid accountability. Thai authorities, however, picked up the Luthras and sent them back to Delhi after CBI approached Interpol, which issued ‘Blue Corner’ notices against them.
In her order, Additional Sessions Judge Vandana of Rohini Court noted that even the Supreme Court judgments cited by the counsels of the Luthras did not favour them. Quoting the SC order, she said the power to grant transit anticipatory bail should be used only in exceptional and compelling circumstances, where it “would cause irremediable and irreversible prejudice to the applicant”, but the brothers had failed to prove so.
Representing the Luthra brothers, senior advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir argued that no specific allegations had been made against his clients. They had travelled to Thailand for a professional engagement, he claimed.
Calling the fire tragedy “purely accidental”, he argued that there was no criminal intent. The Luthras only subsequently learned that on the day, a third party was performing in their nightclub, Mir said, adding that the performer purchased her equipment and brought her staff, but did not use any flammable material.
Moreover, Mir highlighted that the Luthra brothers had been in the hospitality business for nine years, operating over 27 similar establishments across India. He said operational managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations and regulatory compliance of such establishments. Accordingly, any lapse in the security and safety at these sites should rest with the establishments, not the owners.
Facing imminent arrest at the airport upon their return, as well as the issuance of a look-out circular in their name to join the investigation into the fire, further impacted the brothers’ return to the country, Mir said.
On the other hand, the Goa government’s counsel—senior advocates Abhinav Mukherjee and Surjendu Sankar Das—countered, saying that fleeing immediately after the incident exposes the brothers’ evasion of investigation.
The court agreed with the counter that the allegations and offence against the brothers were serious in nature, considering 25 people had lost their lives. The judge also noted that the Luthras did not move bail applications in Goa. “…it remained unexplained as to why the applicant has not approached the competent court having territorial jurisdiction in Goa.”
The court junked health grounds, seizure disorder, and hypertension, as raised by Gaurav, and epileptic disorders, thyroid, blood pressure, fatty liver, and numbness in the nerves in his lower limbs, as raised by Saurav Luthra. The judge said that the medical reports submitted by them did not suggest any “severe” medical condition.
The judge also rejected the grounds of threat to their lives, as raised by both brothers. Questioning the basis of such apprehensions, Additional Sessions Judge Vandana observed, “The action taken by the investigating authority or by the court, as per law, can’t be said to be an apprehension of threat to life.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also Read: Jharkhand brothers, fellow chef from Nepal—migrant workers bear the brunt of Goa nightclub inferno