A Goa court has granted bail to Ajay Gupta, co-owner of the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub, where a massive fire claimed 25 lives in December last year, his lawyer said.
Gupta had been arrested in New Delhi over three months ago.
On Monday, the district court in Mapusa, North Goa, allowed his bail plea. During the hearing, his counsel Rohan Desai argued that the police chargesheet contained no material evidence linking Gupta to the incident.
Desai contended that the extensive chargesheet fails to outline any specific role played by his client in the tragedy, and also dismissed allegations of document forgery as baseless.
The court granted bail on a surety of Rs 50,000, with conditions that Gupta must not leave the country without prior permission and must deposit his passport. He was also directed not to interfere with evidence, Desai added.
The fire broke out around midnight on December 6 at the nightclub in Arpora village, North Goa, killing 25 people, including 20 staff members and five tourists. Following the incident, police arrested 13 individuals, including the owners of the establishment.
On February 27, a 4,150-page chargesheet was filed against 13 accused, including co-owners Saurabh Luthra, Gaurav Luthra and Ajay Gupta. The investigation included statements from over 300 witnesses.
In February, Goa Police filed a chargesheet against 13 accused in connection with the nightclub fire. The chargesheet included names of the owners and brothers Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, co-owner Ajay Gupta, and the managerial staff of the club.
Club’s corporate general manager; Vivek Singh, general manager; Bijay Kumar Singh, operation manager; Priyanshu Thakur, gate manager and Rajveer Singhania bar manager, were also named.
The chargesheet also included names of the director and the general manager of an event company ‘K-Dance Events Private Limited’, and the then-sarpanch and former secretary of village panchayat Arpora-Nagoa.
Luthra brothers had taken a flight from Delhi to Phuket on December 7, just hours after the tragedy unfolded. However, they were later deported to India and arrested by the Goa Police.
