Panaji: The blaze that killed 25 people at Birch by Romeo Lane is now exposing a long list of alleged illegalities that, according to the original landowner Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar, were ignored for nearly two decades.

Amonkar, who has been locked in a 20-year legal battle over the Arpora property, says the nightclub was built and operated through a chain of violations that multiple authorities failed to stop — despite repeated complaints, demolition notices, and warnings.

Amonkar told PTI he had purchased two plots in Arpora in 1994. In 2004, he agreed to sell to Surinder Kumar Khosla, but withdrew it within six months when Khosla failed to make the payment.

Despite the lapse of the agreement, Khosla went on to set up a nightclub on the land, which was later taken over by brothers Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane.

What followed, Amonkar says, was a cycle of illegal construction and administrative inaction. He and fellow complainant Sunil Divkar had flagged unauthorised structures as early as 2023, listing shops, restaurants, six buildings, and two platforms allegedly raised on saltpan land.

On December 20, 2023, he filed a detailed complaint with the Arpora-Nagoa panchayat, prompting a site inspection on January 17, 2024.

A show-cause notice was issued to Khosla on February 15 that year. The demolition order that followed stated Khosla was unable to produce any documents proving the legality of the structures.

However, before action could be taken, he secured a stay from the Directorate of Panchayat, halting enforcement and allowing the nightclub to continue operations.

According to Amonkar, this stay became the shield that enabled a wide range of illegalities to flourish — from unauthorised construction to a nightclub operating without a valid trade licence.

The trade licence for Birch by Romeo Lane had expired in March 2024, yet the premises continued to run, despite Section 72-A of the Goa Panchayat Raj Act, which empowers the local body to seal any establishment functioning without mandatory licences.

Arpora Sarpanch Roshan Redkar acknowledged that the panchayat had previously attempted to demolish the illegal structures but was blocked repeatedly by the Directorate’s stay orders. Meanwhile, state authorities have blamed the panchayat for issuing permissions that allowed the club to function.

The Chief Minister’s Office said the sarpanch had signed NOCs for electricity, water, house repairs, and even granted a trade licence to the establishment, despite pending disputes and alleged violations.

For Amonkar, the tragedy of December 7 — when a massive fire ripped through the illegally built premises, killing staff and tourists — was the catastrophic result of years of ignored warnings.

He has publicly named Khosla as the “main accused”, alleging that he continued “all kinds of illegalities” on land that did not legally belong to him. In a social media post, Amonkar even warned that Khosla “may flee the country.”

As investigations widen, the question now looming over Goa’s enforcement machinery is stark: How did a nightclub with disputed ownership, unauthorised construction, and an expired licence continue to operate until it turned into a deadly firetrap?