Birch co-owner Gupta gets bail in alleged forgery case

Panaji: A Mapusa court on Saturday granted bail to Birch by Romeo Lane co-owner Ajay Gupta, 55, of Gurugram, in the alleged forgery case where a health NOC was forged to obtain an excise licence for Birch by Romeo Lane.

The court observed that the NOC alleged to be forged does not mention anywhere that it is for obtaining an excise or liquor licence. He will continue to be in custody in the main matter concerning the death of 25 people at the nightclub.“The alleged NOC forged is for running a restaurant. As the NOC alleged forged nowhere mentions that the same is for obtaining an excise licence or, for that matter, selling liquor, therefore prima facie I am of the view that the same does not amount to valuable security.

However, my observations are only restricted to the bail application,” stated judicial magistrate first class C court, Mapusa, Jude T Sequeira.After the fire at the nightclub that killed 25 persons in Dec, Mapusa police registered a separate FIR on a complaint of the health officer at Candolim primary health centre that authorised persons of Birch impersonated and forged his signature and made a forged entry in the register to obtain a health NOC, which was then used to obtain an excise licence for the club/restaurant.

The prosecution stated that the NOC was a requirement to get an excise licence and that the NOC created a legal right, and without it the excise licence could not be issued. The court observed that the NOC is only a qualification or required document to grant an excise licence and does not in any manner prima facie show that there is a creation of any right in favour of the LLP to sell liquor, as this can be carried out only after obtaining permission from the excise department.Gupta, represented by advocate Rohan Desai, submitted to the court that he is only a 10% shareholder in Being GS Hospitality LLP and is only an investor partner with no participation in the operational, managerial, or executive functioning of the LLP. He stated that the entire management, administration, and day-to-day operation were never held by him, and he is not an authorised representative of Being GS Hospitality Goa Arpora LLP.He stated that he never met the health officer of the health centre, did not sign the register maintained by the health centre, and did not apply for any permission/licence on behalf of the LLP for running a restaurant.