Smriti Irani's daughter runs illegal bar in Goa: Congress alleges

New Delhi: Alleging that Union Minister Smriti Irani's daughter runs an illegal bar in Goa, Congress demanded on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack Irani. The party said that a show-cause notice was sent to Irani's daughter by an excise officer. However, she has rejected the allegation, PTI reported.

The lawyer of Irani's daughter, Kirat Nagra, released a statement saying that his client is neither an owner nor operating the restaurant called Silly Souls Goa and has not received any show cause notice from any Authority whatsoever as alleged.

The lawyer counter alleged, "erroneous, frivolous, malicious and defamatory social media posts being made by various vested quarters trying to settle political scores with our client's mother, the renowned politician Smriti Irani each of which are predicated on blatant falsities."

Nagra termed the allegations baseless and said, "It is unfortunate that they have resorted to spreading false propaganda only to sensationalise a non-issue without ascertaining true facts and with a predetermined objective of defaming Our Client for solely being the daughter of a political leader."

However, Congress shared a copy of the show cause notice given to the bar, and it went on to allege that the excise official who issued the notice is reportedly being transferred after pressure from authorities.

Further, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera told the media that there are serious corruption charges against Ms Irani's family. He said that a Goa-based restaurant run by Irani's daughter includes a bar, which is running on a fake licence.

He said, "The licence by Smriti Irani's daughter is in the name of a person who died in May 2021, and the licence was taken in June 2022 in Goa. But the person in whose name the licence is had died 13 months ago. This is illegal." According to him, Goa rules mandate that a restaurant can get only one bar licence, but this restaurant has obtained two bar licences.

"We demand from the prime minister that Smriti Irani should be immediately sacked as a minister from the Union cabinet. You owe it to this country, to the youth of this country," he said.

When asked about Irani attacking Rahul Gandhi, Khera said, "There cannot be any comparison between something as noble as running a newspaper and something like running an illegal bar in Goa". He asked,

"Is this being done without her knowledge, and was the licence given without her influence?"

He also alleged that bouncers of private security had been deployed around the restaurant in Goa to keep the media out of bounds.

He further alleged that private security had been fielded around the restaurant, restricting media. "We want to know from you under whose influence is this being done. Who is behind this illegal work," he told reporters.