Families of 25 people who died in the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub fire will receive ex-gratia compensation of Rs 20 lakh each after the Bombay High Court recorded an undertaking by the hospitality company linked to the premises. The victims comprised 20 employees and five tourists.
The court recorded the statement of Being G S Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP, whose partners include Saurabh and Gaurav Luthra and Ajay Gupta. The company told the court that it would deposit the compensation in three instalments for each victim’s family.
The first instalment of Rs 5 lakh per victim is due by November 16, followed by a second instalment of Rs 5 lakh by December 7. The remaining Rs 10 lakh for each family is to be deposited by February 7. The payments will be in addition to the Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia amount already paid by the LLP to the families of the 20 deceased employees.
A bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit Jamsandekar directed that the deposited amount would be adjusted against any final compensation awarded in pending proceedings. These include cases before the labour commissioner under the Workmen’s Compensation Act concerning the 20 deceased employees, as well as proceedings filed by the families of the deceased tourists before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Gurugram, Haryana.
The court’s recorded undertaking establishes an interim financial pathway for affected families while the separate compensation proceedings continue. The order does not determine the final liability or the final amount payable in those proceedings. The source report also states that the cause of the fire and the full extent of the losses have not yet been determined.
Details cited in the report indicate that eight fire tenders from Kundaim, Ponda, Old Goa, Margao, Bicholim and St Inez-Panaji were deployed during the firefighting operation. Firefighters used approximately 1.7 lakh litres of water and 700 litres of foam to control flames involving plastic, rubber waste, wires, paper, cardboard and cables. Heavy earthmoving equipment was used to move debris and cover remaining hotspots with mud.
Fire officials said toxic smoke complicated the operation and that isolated fires continued after the main blaze had been contained. An LPG cylinder was found inside the shed, where some labourers were staying, although no injuries were reported in the incident described in the report.
The report further states that police, revenue officials and the fire and emergency services director visited the site for inquiries. A person identifying himself as the landowner alleged that the scrapyard had been operating without permission from the panchayat and said he had sought the operator’s removal. The report states that the dispute had been brought before the collector. The next compensation milestones are the deposits due on November 16, December 7 and February 7.
