PANAJI: The Court of the Mapusa Judicial Magistrate First Class has ordered the immediate defreezing of a bank account belonging to YB Hospitality LLP, where Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra are partners along with two others.
The LLP, which operates the Caha resort and restaurant in Goa, had approached the court after its Meerut bank account was frozen on December 11, 2025. The freeze was imposed by the Investigating Officer of Anjuna Police Station in connection with the fire at Birch by Romeo Lane, owned by the Luthra brothers, which claimed 25 lives on December 6.
Authorities had argued that the Luthra brothers, as major shareholders and primary accused in the case, required the firm’s funds to be preserved for potential compensation claims for victims’ families.
The court, however, ruled that the police had exceeded their authority in freezing the LLP’s account. It noted that the action appeared to be taken under Section 106 of the BNSS, which allows seizure of property suspected to be stolen or found under suspicious circumstances, conditions not applicable to the LLP’s business account.
“The Investigating Officer in the present case, by debit freezing the account of the applicant partnership firm, has exceeded its jurisdiction or, for that matter, acted beyond his powers,” the court observed, focusing solely on the legality of the freeze without weighing into the ongoing criminal investigation.
