3 min readPanajiUpdated: Apr 8, 2026 12:39 PM IST
Goa nightclub fire case news: A local court in Goa on Wednesday granted bail to brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub where a fire on December 6 last year killed 25 people, in connection with a case of forgery and cheating. The brothers are accused of forging a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Candolim primary health centre and using it to obtain excise and other licences to run the club.
The relief paves the way for their release from jail. Earlier last week, a Sessions Court had granted bail to the Luthra brothers in connection with the fire case, where they are charged under charges of culpable homicide. The Goa Police filed a chargesheet last month against 13 accused, including the Luthras, in connection with the fire. In it, the police stated that due to irresponsible acts of the accused persons, 25 people lost their lives, causing “irreparable loss which shattered 25 families reflecting gross criminal negligence and utter disregard for human life and complete failure of the accused to adhere to statutory and safety norms.”
The Luthra brothers, who ran the club, had taken a flight from Delhi to Phuket at 5.30 am on December 7, hours after the incident, which took place just before midnight the previous day. The duo booked the tickets at 1.17 am on December 7 to leave the country, within 90 minutes of the blaze. They were later deported to India and arrested by the Goa Police.
Mapusa police had registered another FIR, based on a complaint from the Health Officer, alleging that the owners of Birch by Romeo Lane had impersonated and forged his signature and recorded false entries to obtain an NOC. The court granted bail to the brothers on a bond of Rs 50,000 each.
Advocate Parag Rao, who represented the Luthras, told the media: “The Judicial Magistrate First Class has granted bail [in forgery case], subject to regular conditions. I think…there is a condition to report for five days. The judgment is not out [yet].
While granting bail last week to the duo in connection in connection with the fire at their establishment, the court had observed that the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, invoked against the Luthras, does not fall within the category of most heinous crimes such as murder, where punishment may extend to death or mandatory life imprisonment.
Observing that prolonged incarceration without the likelihood of early conclusion of trial would amount to pre-trial punishment, the court said 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”.
