PANAJI
Excise Commissioner Narayan Gad on Thursday dismissed the complaint filed by lawyer-activist Aires Rodrigues against the renewal of the excise license granted to the owner of the Silly Soul Restaurant and Bar Anthony D'Gama, after his death.Gad who on multiple occasions heard the complaint and arguments of both Rodrigues and Mapusa-based lawyer Benny Nazareth on behalf of D'Gama's heirs, said in his order that the complaint is "disallowed".
The Commissioner also held that the renewal of the licence was legal and valid as it was transferred to Anthony D’Gama’s wife after his death.
Gad said in the order that Rodrigues' prayer to suspend and/or cancel D'Gama's licence for retail sale of liquor under the name and style “Silly Souls Café and Bar” on the premises bearing HNo 452, at Bhouta Vaddo, Assagao, is hereby disallowed.
According to Gad's order, the application of the late D'Gama's wife Merlyn D’Gama to transfer the licence to her name is allowed in principle till the final disposal of the inventory proceedings she has initiated before a Mapusa court.
Gad also said, the actual transfer of the licence in the D'Gama's wife's name will only take place on production of her complete police antecedent report.
"Whether a fine is to be levied is a question to be decided at the time of actual transfer of the liquor licence in favour of the person entitled to its transfer on disposal of the inventory proceedings,” Gad further said in his order.
The complaint filed by Rodrigues had spiralled into a major controversy after he charged that the ‘Silly Souls Café and Bar’ at Assagao was being allegedly operated by the family of BJP politician Smriti Irani, who is the Union Minister for Women and Child Development.
The issue was picked up by the Opposition Congress both locally in Goa and nationally in Delhi demanding Irani's resignation for running an 'illegal' business. It snowballed into a major row with Irani and Congress spokespersons Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera engaging in a verbal slugfest in the media.
Irani had denied any links with the business and dragged Ramesh and Khera to court in a libel suit.
Subsequently, Rodrigues had dug out documents from the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) the licencing authortiy for food outlets which indicated that the food licence for the Assagao outlet was issued to Eightall Food and Beverages, a company in which Irani's family members had ownership interests.
Silly Souls Café & Bar has remained shut since July this year when the controversy first broke out.
