Goa excise dept begins hearing on plaint on restaurant amid Irani vs Congress

Goa excise commissioner Narayan Gad on Friday started the hearing on a complaint that an excise licence was fraudulently granted to Silly Souls Café and Bar, Assagao, which is at the centre of a controversy after the Congress last week alleged that Union minister Smriti Irani’s daughter was linked to the property.

Gad framed two issues for determination during the hearing, according to complainant and lawyer Aires Rodrigues.

“The first issue is whether the excise licence was obtained by submitting false and inadequate documents and by misrepresenting facts. The second issue is whether there were procedural irregularities on the part of the excise officials,” Rodrigues told reporters after the hearing.

The licence was taken in June 2022 and issued in the name of Anthony D’Gama, who died in May 2021.

As the hearing concluded, the excise commissioner directed the licence holder to file their responses to the two issues and adjourned the hearing till August 22, Rodrigues said.

Appearing for the D’Gama family, advocate Benny Nazareth said they had submitted their response to a show-cause notice issued to them on July 21 and would respect the process.

“We are in a vibrant democracy. We respect the rule of law. The authority issued us a show cause notice and we have filed our reply to that. Let us respect that, let us allow the authority to take a decision,” Nazareth said.

Anthony D’Gama’s son Dean D’Gama also attended the hearing.

“When there are several statements made in the complaints, the authority has to narrow that down to certain specific issues. Once you narrow down, it becomes easy for determination as to who has to prove what and what are the issues to be decided,” Nazareth added.

Asked about the validity of the licence, the lawyer said it continues to be valid.

“Once the fees are paid, the licence continues. Here we are governed under the Portuguese civil code, under which, the ownership of the property is jointly in the name of the husband and wife in terms of article 1117. But the administration is always in the name of the husband. When the husband dies, or any spouse does, the administration automatically goes to the other spouse. Here automatically, by provision of law, the other spouse becomes the administrator of the estate,” he said.

The Congress last week alleged that Irani’s daughter, Zoish Irani (18), is involved in the running of the cafe and that the family got its excise licence fraudulently, and got two bar licences when regulations allow only one. It also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack her from his Cabinet.Congress leaders also posted videos of a food blogger interviewing Zoish Irani and identifying the restaurant as hers.

Irani, the Union minister for women and child development, said her daughter did not run any bar or restaurant, and was a first-year college student.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also issued a legal notice to the Congress and its leaders Pawan Khera, Jairam Ramesh and Netta D’souza, demanding an apology and asking them to “cease and desist from dissemination of defamatory, derogatory, false and misleading information/allegations” against her and her daughter. She has sought damages of over ₹2 crore for the “baseless” allegations.

The Delhi high court on Friday issued summons to the three Congress leaders and also asked them to take down tweets and other social media posts on allegations levelled against the minister and her daughter.

Nazareth said there was “absolutely no connection” between the restaurant and the Irani family.