Goa nightclub fire: HC turns civil suit into PIL, seeks accountability

The Goa bench of Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane at Arpora, where a devastating fire on December 6 killed 25 persons, into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) observing "someone has to be held accountable in such kind of cases".

The HC also asked the state government to file a reply on permissions granted to the ill-fated nightclub. The petition was filed by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, owners of the land on which the nightclub stood. Converting it into a PIL, the division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Prithviraj Chavan said "someone has to be held accountable in such kind of cases".  It observed that the local panchayat had failed to take suo motu cognisance of the club and had taken no action despite complaints. Commercial operations were going in the structure despite it being served a demolition order, the HC bench pointed out. Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing Amonkar and Divkar, was made amicus curie in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter. The bench asked the Goa government to reply on the process of permissions to be granted for such establishments.  The HC bench fixed January 8 as the next date for hearing in the matter. In their plea, Amonkar and Divkar had highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order". These violations not only constitute brazen contraventions of multiple state and national laws but also present immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa, the petition contended. Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.