Mapusa, Sep 14: The three main accused in the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub fire surrendered before a Goa court on Monday, two weeks after the Supreme Court rejected their pleas challenging the cancellation of bail.
Nightclub owners Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, along with their business partner Ajay Gupta, turned themselves in at the Mapusa Additional District and Sessions Court after the apex court directed them to surrender.
The fatal fire at the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora, North Goa, on December 6, 2025, claimed 25 lives and left several others injured.
Advocate Saumya Drago, representing the accused, confirmed that the court accepted their surrender and issued the necessary remand orders.
The Supreme Court on August 31 dismissed their petitions challenging the Bombay High Court’s order cancelling their bail and directed them to surrender within two weeks. The apex court also instructed the trial court to expedite proceedings.
Speaking to reporters, Drago said that an application was also filed before the court seeking certain medical accommodations for her clients, based on their medical history, doctors’ prescriptions and medical records.
While the court permitted their request regarding medicines and a mattress, it kept the request for special footwear pending, seeking a response from the investigating officer. The court is expected to take up the matter on the next working day, she said.
The Bombay High Court had cancelled the bail granted to the three accused on August 18, observing the seriousness of the case and the need for further legal proceedings. The trio had subsequently approached the Supreme Court, which declined to interfere with the HC order.
According to the chargesheet filed in the case, the accused have been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, acts endangering human life, negligent conduct with respect to fire and combustible matter, forgery, use of forged documents as genuine and criminal conspiracy.
The chargesheet alleged that “irresponsible acts” of the accused resulted in the deaths of 25 people in the mass-casualty incident, causing “irreparable loss” to their families. (PTI)
