What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday hit out at Union Minister Smriti Irani over reports that a Goa restaurant allegedly run by her daughter Zoish was served a notice for acquiring a liquor licence in the name of a dead person.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, spokesperson Pawan Khera and several other leaders addressed a press conference at the party headquarters here to corner the BJP minister.
Khera showed a copy of the purported show cause notice given to the bar and alleged that the excise official who issued the notice is reportedly being transferred after pressure from authorities.
He said his allegations were based on an RTI reply. “According to the RTI, Zoish got ‘bar licence’ issued to her ‘Silly Souls Cafe and Bar’ by giving fake documents,” the Congress leader told media persons.
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Khera further said that Anthony De Gama, who applied for the renewal of the licence on June 22, 2022, died in May last year itself. “Anthony’s Aadhaar card showed that he was a resident of Vile Parle in Mumbai. His death certificate has also been received by the lawyer who applied the RTI,” he claimed.
He further stated that all the rules and regulations in this matter were kept in abeyance since the subject is related to the Union minister.
According to the excise policy of Goa, only existing restaurants in the state can get a bar licence, that too, one restaurant at a time. But in February last year, Irani’s family restaurant was issued licenses for the retail sale of foreign liquor as well as retail sale of foreign and country liquor manufactured in India, the Congress leader alleged.
The documents also revealed that the bar licence was issued without the restaurant licence, he further said.
“Smriti Irani, who was asking various questions about Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi till yesterday, why is she silent on her family corruption today,” Khera asked.
“We demand from the Prime Minister that Smriti Zubin Irani should be dismissed from the Cabinet with immediate effect,” he said.
