Panaji, March 23 A court in Goa granted bail to Ajay Gupta, one of the owners of the 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub, where a devastating fire killed 25 people in December last year, his lawyer said.
The district court in Mapusa, North Goa, granted bail to Gupta, who was arrested from New Delhi more than three months ago.
Lawyer Rohan Desai, representing the accused, told the court during arguments that there was no evidence against Gupta in the chargesheet filed by the police in the case.
Desai said that the extensive chargesheet does not specify any role of Gupta in the tragedy, and the allegations of forging documents against his client were also unfounded.
Desai said that they were still awaiting a detailed bail order, but the judge released Gupta on a bond of 50,000 rupees and imposed several conditions, including that he should not leave the country without the court's permission and surrender his passport to it.
The court also instructed Gupta not to tamper with evidence while on bail, Desai said.
Twenty-five people – 20 staff members and five tourists – were killed in the major blaze at the nightclub in Arpora village, North Goa, around midnight on December 6. After the tragedy, police had arrested 13 people, including the nightclub's owners.
On February 27, police filed a 4,150-page chargesheet in connection with the fire against 13 accused, including the owners, Saurabh Luthra, Gaurav Luthra, and Gupta. Police recorded statements of more than 300 witnesses.