Birch fire effect: HC asks coastal p’yats for trade licence, occupancy details

Panaji: The Bombay high court on Monday directed all the coastal belt village panchayats to submit details of trade licences issued by them, and how many of them have issued construction licences and occupancy certificates.

The high court is looking into the larger issue of commercial operations being allowed in illegal structures in the state.


The HC took up suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) in the wake of the fire incident that took place at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, where 25 people were killed on Dec 6, 2025.




“The court directed all the panchayats in the coastal belt to file an affidavit showing the court in what cases and how many cases they issued trade licences, and how many of them had construction licences and occupancy certificates,” advocate general Devidas Pangam said.

He said that, as far as payment of compensation to the victims of the nightclub fire is concerned, the court has kept the matter for next week to find out how much ex-gratia payment govt made or announced.

Pangam said that, as far as fixing liability on the people responsible for the incident was concerned, the court will take up the matter once the replies are filed by all the parties. He said that, from the first day, the court said in the suo motu petition that the court will take care of situations like a fire at a nightclub which may occur in the near future, and what prevention measures can be adopted.

The advocate general said that the court also spoke about fixing responsibility on the officials who were responsible for the fire. “The court wants to find out whether their properties can be confiscated for causing loss of life.”