Luthra brothers booked Thailand flights at 1.17 am on Dec 7; no interim relief, bail hearing on Thursday

Panaji: Saurabh Luthra and Gaurav Luthra, the main accused and owners of the Goa nightclub where a massive blaze claimed 25 lives, booked tickets to Thailand within an hour of learning about the fire at their establishment, officials said on Wednesday. According to the investigation by the Goa police, both Luthra brothers booked their tickets for Phuket in Thailand through a travel portal at 1.17 am of December 7.

At this time, police and administration were battling the blaze at the nightclub 'Birch by Romeo Lane' at Arpora in North Goa, and trying to rescue their staff.

On Wednesday, the Luthras failed to get an interim relief as a Delhi court posted their plea for an anticipatory bail for Thursday.

The Luthra brothers approached the Rohini district courts seeking transit anticipatory bail and their pleas came up for hearing before Additional Sessions Judge Vandana.

The court asked the Goa Police to respond to the pleas and posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.

The Luthra brothers have said that they are only licensees and not the actual owners of the building where the club was located.

They have sought four weeks of transit anticipatory bail so that they are not immediately arrested after they return to Delhi from Thailand. They have also sought interim protection from arrest.

During the hearing on the transit anticipatory bail pleas, one of the lawyers appearing for the brothers refuted the allegation that they had fled and said they had gone to Thailand for a business meeting.

He said no liability could be attributed to them, even vicariously.

"My other restaurants have been bulldozed. The authorities and even the fourth estate are baying for my blood," the advocate said.

Saurabh's bail plea said, "The applicant has been advised that on account of the look-out circular (LOC) on his return to India, he will be detained/ arrested at the airport. The applicant wishes to join the investigation and extend his full co-operation, and his return to Delhi and then to Goa is impaired by the issuance of the LOC.”

It said that according to media reports, mobs were waiting outside the nightclub and there was an imminent threat to his life, liberty and safety in Goa.

"The present case falls within the category of rare and exceptional cases to grant transit anticipatory bail. The applicant deserves protection to ensure that pre-trial arrest and loss of liberty do not result in miscarriage of justice," the plea said.

During the proceedings, the judge questioned the maintainability of the plea, saying the accused persons were not present within the court's jurisdiction.

"The statute allows a person to file for pre-arrest bail. I have approached this court because I am residing in the court's jurisdiction," the advocate said.

The counsel appearing for the Goa Police opposed any interim protection, saying non-bailable warrants (NBWs) have been issued against them and they fled after the incident.

When the police went to their residence on December 8, their family claimed ignorance about their whereabouts, he said.

The court then directed the state to file a reply on the bail pleas.

In a related development, the Goa Police produced Ajay Gupta before Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vinod Joshi at the Saket district courts here and sought his transit remand.

The court granted a 36-hour transit remand in view of the ongoing air travel crisis due to disrupted Indigo flights.

It directed that special consideration be taken on account of Gupta's spinal injury and other medical issues, and that timely medication should be ensured during custody.

An Interpol Blue Corner Notice has been issued against the Luthra brothers.

Besides, an LOC was issued against Surinder Kumar Khosla, another owner of the nightclub, who is a British citizen, according to police.

The police have so far arrested five people -- the nightclub's chief general manager, Rajiv Modak, general manager Vivek Singh, bar manager Rajiv Singhania, gate manager Riyanshu Thakur and employee

PTI