Goa nightclub fire: Court denies bail to Luthra brothers in forgery case
Panaji (PTI): A court in Goa has rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, owners of the fire-ravaged Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, in a case involving the alleged forgery of documents to obtain an excise licence.
The additional sessions court in Mapusa on Friday rejected the petition filed by the brothers, their advocate Parag Rao said.
The Luthras owned Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in Arpora village of North Goa, where a fire broke out on December 6, 2025, killing 25 people and injuring 50 others.
The brothers, who had fled to Thailand after the fire and were deported from that nation on December 17, are currently in Colvale central jail in North Goa.
While the Anjuna police were investigating the duo in connection with the fire, the Mapusa police registered a case of forgery, accusing them of providing forged documents to obtain a licence from the excise department for the nightclub.
Talking to reporters, advocate Rao said the judge announced that both their anticipatory bail applications were rejected.
"We are yet to get the detailed judgment. We will have to study the order. We were not expecting it to be rejected," he said.
He further pointed out that Ajay Gupta, another owner of the ill-fated nightclub, had been granted bail by the court in connection with the fire and the same forgery case.
Rao said the brothers had contended that the alleged false documents were with the police, so the authorities don't require their custody in the case.
He said that his clients had not applied for the documents, which were allegedly forged.
The health officer of Candolim Health Centre (North Goa) had registered a case against the Luthras, claiming that they had forged his signature to create a fake No Objection Certificate (NOC) and submitted it to the excise department to get a licence for the nightclub.
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Defamation case: Application filed in court for voice sample of Rahul Gandhi
Sultanpur (UP) (PTI): An application for obtaining a voice sample of Rahul Gandhi was filed in an MP-MLA court here on Saturday during a hearing in a defamation case against the Congress leader over his alleged objectionable remarks against then BJP president Amit Shah in 2018.
The plaintiff Vijay Mishra's advocate, Santosh Kumar Pandey, said he filed the application requesting that a voice sample of Gandhi be collected and sent to a forensic science laboratory for comparison with a CD that has already been submitted to the court.
Rahul Gandhi's lawyers registered their objections to this demand. The next hearing in the matter is fixed for April 6, Pandey said.
On February 20, Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, had appeared before the court and recorded his statement, claiming the case was filed against him due to political vendetta.
He had also told the court that the audio and video evidence submitted by the complainant was incorrect and said he would present his own evidence.
In December 2023, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi after he failed to appear before it. He later surrendered before the court in February 2024 and was granted bail on two surety bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
The hearing was deferred on Friday due to a holiday on Ram Navami.
Pandey said that during the previous hearing, the complainant's side had filed an application seeking verification of audio and video evidence of the alleged statements made by Gandhi by matching them with his original voice.
The case stems from Gandhi's alleged objectionable remarks against Shah during the 2018 Karnataka election campaign. Following the remarks, Vijay Mishra, a resident of Hanumanganj under Kotwali Dehat police station area in Sultanpur, filed the defamation complaint.
