The court has sought State’s response to their anticipatory bail plea and posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday.
The Rohini court in Delhi on Wednesday refused to grant immediate interim relief to Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub in North Goa’s Arpora where a fire incident killed 25 people, including staff and tourists last week.
The court has sought State’s response to their anticipatory bail plea and posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday.
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Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, who are residents of Delhi, had filed a plea before the court seeking transit anticipatory bail after a Non Bailable Warrant (NBW) was issued against them in connection with the fire incident.
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The Luthra brothers had fled to Thailand within hours after the fire at their Goa nightclub on Saturday.
During the hearing, senior advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing on behalf of the accused, cited medical grounds pointing to the health condition of one of the accused, Saurabh Luthra.
The advocate told the court that Saurabh suffers from epilepsy and hypertension. He further argued that the accused are not the owners of the nightclub but only licensees operating with valid permissions and that the ownership of the club lies with someone else.
When the court observed that the applicants are not physically present within its jurisdiction and questioned the maintainability of their anticipatory bail petition, advocate Tanveer Ahmad Mir, also representing the Luthra brothers, cited legal precedents.
He submitted that he was moving the application because the applicant is a permanent resident within the jurisdiction of the Court. He emphasised that the sole relief sought was protection from arrest.
The advocates representing the Luthra brothers urged the court to grant interim protection to the applicant until next hearing.
They argued that the Delhi court, despite being outside the jurisdictional area, can still issue notice in matters of interim anticipatory bail and requested relief so that the accused may return to Goa and approach the competent court there.
However, the Counsel of the State opposed their anticipatory bail plea and requested more time to file a detailed status report.
The Counsel stated that the accused fled the country and an NBW had already been issued by a Goa court and other relevant facts needed to be placed on record.
The Court then directed the State to file its reply with all necessary details and the matter will be considered the following day.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Delhi’s Saket Court has granted 36-hour transit remand of arrested accused Ajay Gupta to Goa Police.
The court has directed the Goa police to take medical care of Gupta as he is facing some medical issues.
Gupta is reportedly the partner of Luthra brothers in Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub and was arrested by the Goa police earlier today.
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