The key accused in the Goa night club fire, brother duo Gaurav Luthra (44) and Saurabh Luthra (40), have expressed fears in their bail application, that they will be ‘lynched in Goa’. The duo has been charged with murder among other offences in the case of fire that broke in their club and took lives of 25 people last Saturday. In their bail application, they claimed of being lynched, however the court in Rohini, Delhi, not only rejected the bail, but also called the offence as grave and serious in nature. Currently, the accused brothers have been detained in Thailand, where they flew just after the fire inferno happened.

Luthra brothers want to join investigation

The advocates Sidharth Luthra and Tanvir Ahmed Mir, representing the accused brothers, requested for a four-week transit anticipatory bail, arguing that the duo have threat to their lives upon returning to India. They also shared that action against them has already started, their other properties have been grazed by bulldozers. One of the Luthra brothers, conveyed through their lawyers, there is a direct threat to my safety. I will be lynched in Goa. My other restaurants have been bulldozed straight away…We will join the investigation…I shall be prosecuted but not persecuted,”. Lawyer requested the court to not punish them at the threshold; their client reached out to the court at the earliest opportunity and they are ready to join the probe immediately. “If I land in India tonight and the investigating officer tells me to appear at midnight, I will be there,” the lawyer, speaking for the client, said.

Judge highlights inconsistencies in Luthra brothers defence narrative

The Delhi court judge pointed out that the new documents submitted clearly show that the accused brothers booked a flight to Phuket on the same date of the incident and around the same time and left India around 5.20 am, on the same day. This important fact wasn’t shared earlier by the lawyer of the accused, rather kept on misguiding by stating that the accused duo left India before the fire broke. Judge said the fire broke at midnight, and the accused booked a ticket around the same time, this clearly shows that they planned the trip despite having information about the tragic incident. The court also noted that the documents of licence agreement, trade licence and lease deed that the accused lawyers have submitted, have already expired for the nightclub.

Regarding bail request on the medical grounds of a ‘seizure disorder’ and hypertension, the judge disapproved, stating that the supporting medical document is old and doesn’t show any medical condition that is serious No ‘immediate danger’.

The court also rejected the lawyers’ argument stating an ‘immediate threat’ to their lives, the court said, “The action taken by the investigating authority or by the court, as per law, cannot be said to be an apprehension of threat to life.”

“Without expressing any opinion on the merits or veracity of the allegations, this court finds no ground to entertain the present application(s) seeking transit anticipatory bail and to suspend the lookout notice (LOC),” the judge ruled.

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