PANAJI
A total of Rs 85 lakh in relief has been sanctioned by the government to families of those killed in the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub fire, as the State detailed before the High Court of Bombay at Goa, the compensation paid to the families of the dead and those injured.
In an affidavit placed before the Division Bench of Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Amit Jamshandekar in Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation, the government submitted the disbursal of ex gratia payments following the blaze at Arpora on December 6, 2025.
The office of the Collector, North Goa, acting under the District Disaster Management Authority, granted administrative approval and expenditure sanction of Rs 85 lakh towards relief for the legal heirs of 17 victims. Each family was sanctioned Rs 5 lakh -- Rs 4 lakh drawn from the State Disaster Response Fund and Rs 1 lakh from the Goa Disaster Management Fund Scheme.
Court submissions said further tranches of Rs 5 lakh each were sanctioned to other deceased victims. An additional Rs 35 lakh was released under the state disaster fund scheme to the families of five victims from Nepal, with Rs 7 lakh paid to each family.
The State informed the court that families of all deceased victims ultimately received Rs 7 lakh each as ex gratia compensation. Of this, Rs 5 lakh was paid by the State government and Rs 2 lakh by the Centre. In the case of victims who were not Indian citizens, a consolidated sum of Rs 7 lakh each was paid to their families.
For those injured in the fire, the State and Central governments paid Rs 50,000 each. Records placed before the court show that compensation was disbursed to both seriously injured and other injured persons, with payments credited directly to their bank accounts.
During the previous hearing on February 16, the High Court had observed that the State could not evade responsibility to compensate the victims, including 21 workers who died in the nightclub fire. The Bench held that both the State and the owners of Birch were liable to compensate the families of the deceased.
The government has meanwhile also sought to place additional respondents on record in connection with the incident, including Vijaylakshmi Khosla, wife of absconding accused Surinder Kumar Khosla; Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divker, who claim to have constructed structures on the properties where the fire occurred; and Raghuvir Dattaram Bagkar, former secretary of the Village Panchayat of Arpora-Nagoa.
