4 min readUpdated: Aug 18, 2026 10:20 PM IST
The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Tuesday cancelled bail granted to Gaurav Luthra, Saurabh Luthra and Ajay Gupta — the owners and partners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub where a fire on December 6 last year killed 25 people, including five tourists.
The court directed the trio to surrender within two weeks while also granting them the liberty to file a fresh bail application. The state government had challenged the lower court’s order granting bail to the three in connection with the fire incident and in another case, where they are accused of forging documents to obtain licences and permissions to run the nightclub. The Luthra brothers and Gupta were granted bail by a trial court in the two FIRs earlier this year.
As reported by The Indian Express, the chargesheet filed in connection with the fire has revealed several lapses that contributed to the blaze and how the owners acted afterwards – from alleged forged documents to run the nightclub to an emergency exit that was locked to a hasty flight to Phuket as the tragedy unfolded.
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The 4,420-page chargesheet was filed by the Goa police against 13 accused, including Ajay Gupta (55) and brothers Gaurav Luthra (44) and Saurabh Luthra (40), partners of Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP, which owned the club. They were charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and forgery, among other offences. The charge sheet also named Surinder Kumar Khosla, a UK national and the owner of the property, where the nightclub was housed.
The chargesheet stated that the Luthra brothers learnt of the fire at their establishment immediately after the incident, at around 11.45 pm. The managers informed the duo of the “gravity” of the situation and the “casualties” that took place, it stated.
At 1.13 am, Saurabh allegedly contacted his travel agent in Delhi’s Kamla Nagar from his wife’s phone and booked flight tickets for himself and his brother, it said, adding that at 5.25 am, the duo was on a flight to Phuket. Gupta, it stated, was in Goa from December 3 to December 7 (until around 11.30 am). On learning of the incident, he allegedly headed to Delhi and “got himself admitted” at a hospital in Lajpat Nagar.
‘Acted in connivance’
The chargesheet alleged that Gupta and the Luthra brothers acted in alleged connivance with the two and “maliciously” procured the trade/establishment licence. The chargesheet also noted that in order to procure the excise licence, the accused appended documents such as a police clearance certificate and a no-objection certificate from the Health Department. Upon verification, these were allegedly found to be forged.
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The state government argued before the High Court that Luthra brothers fled to Phuket while Gupta fled to Delhi, after learning of the fire tragedy, instead of visiting the site to assist the victims. The state submitted that the club was located in the middle of a saltpan and had no fire safety equipment, no emergency evacuation plan, and no emergency exit doors in the basement and upper deck floor.
Advocate Somnath Karpe, representing the prosecution, told the media, “The court has allowed five applications…three related to the three accused in the case of culpable homicide in the fire incident and two applications for the accused in forgery case. They have been granted two weeks to surrender and granted the liberty to seek bail before the trial court.”
