Govt to insist owners pay compensation to victims' families
PANAJI
The Goa government on Tuesday furnished a list of 52 additional persons and authorities, including Birch nightclub owners Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, seeking to implead them as respondents in the High Court of Bombay at Goa’s suo motu PIL into the Birch fire tragedy.
The Court allowed the addition of all the names and issued notices, returnable on February 3.
The respondents now include coastal-belt village panchayats, government authorities, the Town and Country Planning Department, Fire and Emergency Services, Planning and Development Authorities, and municipalities with CRZ jurisdiction, among others.
The Sarpanch of Arpora-Nagoa Roshan Redkar, one of the accused in the case, has been added as a party in person. Advocate General Devidas Pangam said this would allow responsibility to be fixed, if any, on the concerned authority.
Pangam further told reporters that the High Court’s approach signalled the seriousness with which it views the December 6, 2025 fire that claimed 25 lives. “The Court has taken the issue seriously and it has already indicated how it will ensure implementation of its orders... It will take serious action,” Pangam said.
He stressed that the State would press for accountability from those responsible, including the Birch owners, for the fatal blaze and would urge the Bench to ensure they pay compensation to the deceased victims’ families.
“We will tell the High Court to fix responsibility in the case, and we hope and are confident that there will be an effective order.... also those structures where commercial activities are on... and even illegal constructions where commercial activities are underway, strict action will be taken,” he said.
The discussions during Tuesday’s hearing centred on the mechanism for monitoring compliance, ensuring implementation of orders, and fixing responsibility across individual cases where illegal coastal structures and unlawful commercial operations have been reported.
“Suo motu PIL has made effective work. The Court will monitor individual cases also in view of several complaints of illegal structures in the coastal belt and commercial activities happening in the illegally built structures,” the AG said.
The Bench also detached a writ petition filed by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar from the PIL filed by an activist on the Birch incident. “We will keep this suo motu PIL pure and clean,” the High Court observed while issuing directions.
