New Delhi: The Congress plans to corner the government in Parliament on Monday by raising the issue of a fake bar licence allegedly obtained by minister Smriti Irani’s daughter in Goa. Taking a dig at minister Irani, who represents Amethi parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha, Congress Chief Whip in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh said the Smriti's family Goa bar licence scam attested the “misuse of power and position and was a serious matter."
"We know till yesterday Smriti Irani was asking a lot of questions from Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi but why is she silent over alleged corruption in her family," Ramesh said on Saturday. "We will certainly raise the issue in Parliament on Monday. We urge that the PM should immediately take the resignation of minister Smriti Irani," he said.
Reminding Smriti that she had demanded the resignation of then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2004, over the 2002 riots, the Congress leader said: "You owe it to this country; you owe it to the youth of this country. You cannot mislead the youth of this country to play Lulu Mall while your own children indulge in such illegal activities, thanks to the patronage provided by you, Smriti Zubin Irani."
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Targeting minister Smriti, who has been targeting the Gandhis over the ED summons in the National Herald newspaper case, Congress media chairman Pawan Khera said there was a difference between running a newspaper and a bar. "Running a newspaper is a noble business. We understand the said bar must be running as per the ruling party’s values," said Khera.
The Congress attack was based on an RTI reply, which has revealed that the minister’s daughter Joish Irani obtained a bar licence for her “Silly Souls Café and Bar” in Bardez, Goa based on fake documents. Khera alleged that on June 22, 2022, an application for renewal of the said licence was made in the name of one Anthony D Gama, who passed away in May last year.
Anthony was a resident of Vile Parle in Mumbai, as revealed by his Aadhar card and the advocate who filed the RTI has received his death certificate as well, said Khera. "Getting a bar licence in Goa is easy as per rules. Why should it be applied in the name of a dead person? That is wrong," Congress Lok Sabha member from Goa Francisco Sardinha told ETV Bharat.
Khera further alleged that rules were bent in this case as a union minister was involved. He further said that as per the Excise Policy in Goa, a bar licence can only be given to an existing restaurant and only once. "But in February last year, a family restaurant of minister Smriti got licences for retailing India Made Foreign Liquor as well as country-made liquor," he said, adding "the documents also show that a bar licence was given without a licence for a restaurant."
The Congress media chairman further alleged that Goa Excise Commissioner Narayan M Gad, who had sent a show cause notice to the minister’s family restaurant for functioning without a licence on July 21, was being harassed by the state government. Mahila Congress chief Netta D’Souza said she feared that advocate Aires Rodrigues, who filed the RTI query, might be harmed and should get adequate protection from the police.
