In the 2025 Arpora Nightclub fire tragedy, which took the lives of 20 employees and 5 tourists, the Bombay High Court has asked the club owners to pay Rs 20 lakh to the family of each victim as an ex-gratia payment.

The kin of the victims approached the High Court seeking compensation of Rs 50 lakh to each of the victims.

The Bench comprising Justice Valmiki Menezes and Justice Amit S. Jamsandekar held, “The statement made by the learned Senior Counsel is accepted by the Court. The aforementioned amounts shall be deposited by the Respondent No.53A within the timelines specified above, as an ex-gratia payment. It is clarified that, in the event any award or order passed in the proceedings initiated by any of the aforesaid persons directs payment of compensation lesser than the amount directed to be deposited under this order, the ex gratia amount deposited pursuant to this order shall not, under any circumstances, be refunded to Respondent No. 53A.”

Amicus Curiae Terence Sequeira represented the Petitioner while Additional Government Advocate Deep Shirodkar represented the Respondent.

Arguments

It was brought to Court’s notice by the Counsel for the Respondents that in addition to the ex gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh already paid, a further amount of Rs 20 lakh would be deposited in the Court in respect of each of the employees of the Club.A statement was also made by the respondent’s counsel that, in respect of the five persons who were not employees of the said club but were tourists present at the night club on the date of the incident, an amount of Rs. 20 lakh each would also be deposited in the Court.

On the contrary, the counsel for the victims appointed through legal aid opposed the amount of Rs 20 lakh and claimed that fair compensation should be an amount not less than Rs 50 lakh.

Reasoning

The Bench accepted the statement made by the Senior Counsel before the Court. The Bench ordered that the amount of Rs 20 lakh should be deposited by the Club owners within the timelines specified, as an ex-gratia payment.

The matter has now been listed on December 2, 2026.

On December 15, 2025, the Bombay High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the alleged systemic failures of the club that came to light.

On August 31, 2026, the Supreme Court had dismissed the pleas challenging the Bombay High Court order setting aside bail granted to the accused persons.

Cause Title: High Court on Its Own Motion (Tragedy Taken Place at Arpora In A Tragic Fire Incident) v. State of Goa (Public Interest Litigation (Suo Motu) No.1 of 2026

Click here to read/download Order


Bombay HCJustice Valmiki MenezesJustice Amit S. Jamsandekar

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.