Court grants interim relief to Luthra bros in forgery case related to Birch

Panaji: The sessions court at Mapusa on Friday granted interim relief till Tuesday to Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra, owners of Birch by Romeo Lane at Arpora, where 25 people died in a fire on Dec 6, in connection with allegedly forging a health officer’s no objection certificate (NOC) to obtain an excise licence.The Luthras moved for anticipatory bail on Friday, and interim relief was granted till Tuesday, counsel for the Luthras, A V Pavithran, said.In the anticipatory bail application, applicants are constrained to prefer the present application as they have a bona fide apprehension of arrest in the subject FIR.“It is respectfully submitted at the very threshold that the material and allegations set out in the FIR do not disclose any prima facie case against the applicants for the commission of any alleged offence. The apprehension of arrest arises from the malafide arrest of the partner of the applicant, namely Ajay Gupta, solely and wholly on the premise of him being one of the partners of the LLP, namely Being GS Hospitality Arpora Goa LLP, the LLP in whose name the alleged forged NOC was issued by the primary health centre, Candolim,” the anticipatory application stated.In the FIR registered at Mapusa police station, Candolim PHC health officer, Dr Roshan Nazareth, stated that prior to Dec 13, 2025, authorised persons of Birch, which is run by Being GS Hospitality LLP, in which the Luthra brothers, Saurabh and Gaurav, are directors, impersonated and forged his signature and made a forged entry in the register to obtain a health NOC.“This was done by the accused persons intentionally, and they prepared a no objection certificate issued by me in order to seek an excise licence,” Nazareth said in the FIR. “Thereafter, the accused persons fraudulently and knowingly produced the forged NOC as genuine before the excise department to carry out the documentary transaction towards the excise licence, and they succeeded in getting the excise licence, thereby cheating the authorities,” said Mapusa police.Mapusa police on Dec 23 arrested Ajay Gupta, a partner of Birch by Romeo Lane, in connection with allegedly forging a health officer’s NOC to obtain an excise licence. Mapusa police on Monday moved a transfer warrant application before the JMFC, Mapusa, to take custody of Gupta, who was earlier remanded in judicial custody.After hearing arguments in the matter, the JMFC granted a transfer warrant for Gupta to Mapusa police on Tuesday to arrest him. Meanwhile, Saurabh and Gaurav have been remanded to four days police custody by JMFC, Mapusa, in connection with the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane registered at Anjuna police station. When the fire broke out at the nightclub at 11.45pm on Dec 6, there were more than 150 tourists attending. A preliminary investigation by police and the directorate of fire services concluded that the fire broke out after electric firecrackers struck the wooden ceiling during the event.