Goa govt writes to MEA, seeking passport revocation for absconding nightclub owners Saurabh, Gaurav Luthra

MEA is examining the request to revoke the passports under the Passports Act of India, as per extant rules, people familiar with the matter said.

Updated on: Dec 11, 2025, 03:07:16 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar

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The external affairs ministry is considering the Goa government's request to revoke the passports of Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of the Goa nightclub where 25 people were killed in a fire, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Saurabh Luthra (Top) and Gaurav Luthra have been identified as the persons who run the nightclub in Goa where the deadly midnight fire broke out last weekend. (ANI and LinkedIn/saurabh-luthra | Insta/luthragaurav)

The ministry has received a "communication from the government of Goa with regard to Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra", one of the people said on condition of anonymity.

"The external affairs ministry is examining the request to revoke the passports under the Passports Act of India, in line with the extant rules," the person said without giving details.

The Luthra brothers, co-owners of the club Birch by Romeo Lane in north Goa, left India shortly after the devastating fire. An Interpol Blue Corner notice has been issued for them at the request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A court in New Delhi refused on Wednesday to provide any interim protection from arrest to the brothers, whose partner was detained in connection with the fire.

The lawyers for the Luthra brothers refuted allegations that they had fled the country, and contended that they were away on a business trip. The brothers have also contended that they were only licensees, not owners, of the nightclub. It was also claimed that, because they were not involved in the club's day-to-day activities, which were handled by the management team, they could not be held responsible.

The Goa police have arrested five managers and staff members of the club over the fire that broke out at the venue in Arpora, 25 km from Panaji, at around midnight on December 6.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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