PANAJI
Fresh evidence to link Union Minister Smriti Irani's family with the controversial Silly Souls Café & Bar at Assagao has come to light.
The Food and Drugs Administration has revealed in an RTI response that the licence stands in the name of Eightall Food and Beverages Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), which operates in partnership with Ugraya Mercantile Pvt Limited in which the Union Minister's husband Zubin is a Director.
The FDA issued the information to lawyer-activist Aires Rodrigues who had sought it under the Right to Information Act.
Rodrigues has claimed several irregularities in the licencing of the Cafe, including renewal of its excise licence to the dead owner of the property as also violations of development laws.
The matter of the illegalities in the excise licence of the venture, meanwhile, is to come up for further adjudication before the Goa Excise Commissioner on September 12.
The issue had stirred a major controversy with the Opposition Congress party accusing Irani of abuse of office to illegally obtain licences to operate the business in a BJP-ruled State.
In response, Irani had denied any link to the Assagao cafe and had dragged three top Congress leaders -- Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D'Souza -- to court in a libel suit and sought damages of Rs 2 crores.
The matter is pending adjudication in the Delhi High Court where the three Congress leaders have defended their right to raise questions on the conduct of Irani vis-a-vis the business in Goa.
