Goa nightclub fire: Luthra brothers granted bail, set to walk out of jail
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Panaji (PTI): A Goa court on Wednesday granted bail to Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, owners of fire-ravaged nightclub Birch by Romeo Lane, in a forgery case, paving the way for their release from jail. The brothers had earlier secured bail in a case related to the devastating blaze of last December that left 25 dead.
Advocate Parag Rao, representing the Luthras, told reporters that Judicial Magistrate First Class (Mapusa) Jude Sequeira granted regular bail to the accused in the forgery case.
With this verdict, Rao said, the brothers will be released from jail.
Rao said his clients have been asked to report to the Mapusa police station for the next five days. “We are waiting for the detailed judgment in the case,” he said.
The case pertains to allegations that the Luthra brothers used forged documents, including a fake no-objection certificate (NOC), to obtain permissions and an excise licence for operating their nightclub at Arpora village in North Goa.
According to police, the alleged forged NOC was later used to get regulatory clearances.
A sessions court at Mapusa on April 1 had granted bail to the two brothers in a case related to the deadly fire at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub last December that killed 25 persons.
Hours after the fire broke out at the club on December 6, 2025, the brothers had fled to Thailand, from where they were deported to India on December 17 and arrested by the Anjuna police from the coastal state.
The forgery case was registered separately by Mapusa police after a complaint from the health officer of the Candolim Primary Health Centre, who alleged that his signature had been forged and a fabricated entry had been made in the official register to secure the health NOC.
The tragedy had triggered a massive probe into fire safety violations, licensing procedures and alleged negligence in the operation of the club.
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Priyank Kharge backs AICC chief’s ‘snake’ remark, hits out at Assam CM
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday defended his father and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge’s "poisonous snake" remark against the BJP and RSS.
He also hit out at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, calling him "frustrated" and accusing him of "caste privilege" over his remarks on Mallikarjun Kharge.
"What has he (Mallikarjun Kharge) said? He said one must act if one encounters a poisonous snake. If you find a poisonous snake, will you feed it milk and nurture it, or will you drive it away?" Kharge asked in response to a question.
Speaking to reporters, he said, "Who is sowing the seeds of communal poison in our society? Why? Should we save and nurture such ideologies and principles? No. That is what he (Mallikarjun Kharge) has said. We have been saying this for a long time, not just now."
Terming the RSS ideology and principles detrimental to the country’s and society’s progress, the minister said their perspective does not accommodate the Constitution, minorities, backward classes, Adivasis, Dalits, or even women. "They believe in Manusmriti; we follow the Constitution," he said.
Questioning what one would do upon encountering a poisonous snake, Kharge said, "Will you call a conservationist? They would take it and release it in the forest. If you don’t find a conservationist, what will you do? What do people in villages do? If an ideology is not good for the progress of the country, it should not be adopted."
At an election rally in Assam’s Sribhumi district on Monday, citing the Quran, Mallikarjun Kharge said that if a poisonous snake passes in front of someone offering namaz, the person should stop the prayer and kill the snake.
"I would say that breaking the namaz does not matter. The RSS and the BJP are that poisonous snake. If you don’t kill this snake, you will not survive," he said.
Calling Sarma "frustrated" over his remarks against the AICC chief, Priyank said Mallikarjun Kharge has been in politics for about 50 years, and that neither the BJP nor the Prime Minister has answers to the questions he raises in Parliament and outside.
"The sense of caste privilege instilled in Sarma after his RSS training was not there when he was in the Congress. Sarma belongs to the Brahmin community. He has that privilege and believes whatever he says is acceptable, whether it is against Dalits or Dalit leaders," he claimed, adding that this reflects RSS ideology and its adherence to ‘Chaturvarna’ (the four-fold varna system) thinking.
He further said Sarma comes from an "enlightened and awakened community" and believes he can speak against those from other communities.
He asked, "What does Prime Minister Modi have to say about this? Will he defend it? Will he accept comments made by his chief minister against the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha?"
Sarma triggered a row on Tuesday when he hit out at Mallikarjun Kharge, saying he was "speaking like a madman" due to old age, after the latter called for central agencies to probe allegations against the Assam CM.
Reacting to the RSS filing a police complaint against Mallikarjun Kharge over his "poisonous snake" remarks, Priyank Kharge questioned how the organisation could do so if it is not registered.
"How can the RSS file a complaint? On what letterhead has it been filed? Individuals can file complaints, but I don’t know how the RSS can do so, as it has itself said it is unregistered. On one hand, they say they are unregistered; on the other, they claim their organisation has been insulted. Does this organisation exist or not?" he said.
He alleged that while the RSS has a structure and incurs expenditure, it does not pay income tax.
"What kind of patriotism is this? Is tax evasion patriotism? Then everyone will start doing it," he claimed.
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