Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 11: The Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra brothers, the co-owners of the fire-ravaged Goa nightclub facing culpable homicide charges over the death of 25 people in the blaze, were placed under arrest by the Thailand police on Thursday morning after India ordered suspension of their passports.
The Luthra brothers were also denied anticipatory bail by a Delhi court on Thursday evening. The brothers are currently in Thailand government custody pending deportation to India; they will be brought from Phuket to capital Bangkok to complete processing formalities.
Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra fled India early Saturday; police said they booked tickets on an IndiGo flight to Phuket at 1.17 am, even as firefighters were struggling to put out the fire at ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’, their flagship property built in the middle of a lake in Goa’s Arpora town. On Wednesday they filed a petition seeking immediate interim protection from arrest – which was promptly denied – and anticipatory transit bail, which has now also been refused.
In today’s arguments the Luthra’s lawyer declared the brothers too were “also human” and appeared to seek sympathy on grounds they provide employment to thousands of people. Senior advocate Tanveer Ahmed Mir, appearing for the brothers, also pointed out his clients were not present when the fire broke out and, therefore, could not be held criminally liable. The brothers, he said, had multiple businesses and do not personally oversee day-to-day concerns.
He argued the deaths were the result of ‘negligence’ – a stray flame from a pyrotechnics performance was blamed for the fire – and lacked ‘intention’ by the brothers. That the club holds all necessary permits, including food safety and for sale of liquor. Mir also declared the brothers had not fled the country after ‘a fraud of Rs 5,000 crore’ – a sly reference to fugitive economic offenders sheltering abroad with debts of thousands of crores.
The prosecution countered by pointing to the circumstances in which the Luthra brothers left the country – tickets were booked hours before departure and while the club was burning. The brothers had earlier argued they had travelled to Thailand on business but were now apprehensive about returning, fearing ‘custodial action’; i.e., arrest on arrival at the airport.
But the prosecution argued the Thailand trip indicates an attempt to evade the law. No interim relief, therefore, should be granted, the prosecution said.
The brothers are expected to be deported by Thailand within the next 24 hours. A Goa Police team is expected to leave for Bangkok soon to complete the paperwork. India does have an extradition treaty with Thailand. However, Delhi has pressed for the Luthra brothers to be deported instead, since this will likely take less time than filing a formal extradition request that must then go through the Thai courts.
To trigger the deportation process the Indian government on Wednesday suspended Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra’s passports, leaving them in violation of Thailand’s immigration laws. That triggered the deportation process which should be hastened by the issuing of a Blue Corner notice by international police organisation Interpol. So far five people have been arrested, including Ajay Gupta, one of the four co-owners in connection with the death of 25 people in the blaze.
The Centre used Section 10A of the Passport Act to suspend the passport of the Luthra brothers who own the Romeo Lane chain with outlets in 22 cities and four countries. Section 10A empowers authorities to stop individuals from travelling. At the same time, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issued a Blue Corner notice against the brothers, further cornering them.
According to government sources, once their passports were suspended, the Luthras’ stay in Thailand became illegal and Indian authorities managed to get their Thai counterparts to detain them. Government sources appreciated Thai authorities’ cooperation and swift action.
What turned the nightclub into a death trap was the heavy use of flammable material in the decor and the shocking violation of fire safety norms. No functional fire extinguishers or safety alarms were found on the premises. Also, the access road is so narrow that fire engines could not pass through and had to be parked nearly 400 m away. This delayed the rescue operation and made the firefight very challenging.
By the time firefighters put out the blaze, 25 people had died. Five of them were tourists, and the others were staff members. Most of the victims were found in the basement and died from inhaling toxic smoke.
The tragic incident shocked the coastal state during the peak holiday season. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assured strict action. Four staff members in the managerial ranks were arrested, and a search began for the Luthras. A team from the Goa police came to the national capital, and the Delhi cops joined the hunt. As police started conducting raids at their Delhi addresses, they found the Luthras had booked their tickets soon after the fire began and flew out hours later. Ajay Gupta, the brothers’ business partner, was arrested in Delhi.
The Luthra brothers have approached a Delhi court with a plea for anticipatory bail. They said in the petition that they are licensees and not actual owners of the building where the club was located. The brothers sought four weeks of transit anticipatory bail so that they would not be arrested immediately after their return to Delhi. They have also argued that they flew to Thailand for a business meeting and did not flee due to the fire. They said in the petition that they were not present at the club at the time of the incident.
But the Goa Police told the court that the Luthra brothers had shown no cooperation during the probe and had also misled the authorities about when they left India. “There is no cooperation on the part of Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, which disentitled them for extraordinary protection by this court. They have no business in Thailand. They left the country on December 7. Though they said that they had left on the night of December 6. Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra misled the court, misled the authorities and left the country,” Goa Police told the court.
The two brothers are accused of injury causing death, manslaughter and murder by organising a fire show “without taking proper care and caution and without providing fire safety equipment, other safety gadgets.”
Earlier on Wednesday, a New Delhi court declined to grant interim protection from arrest to the brothers. Their lawyers argued that the Luthras had not fled the country but were on a business trip, and maintained that they were licensees – not owners – of the nightclub. They further contended that day-to-day operations were managed by the club’s staff, absolving the brothers of direct responsibility.
