MAPUSA
With the intent to keep the ‘Silly Souls’ pot boiling, social activist Adv Aires Rodrigues has now thrown down the gauntlet to Union Minister Smriti Irani for a public debate to get to the bottom of the truth on the issue of the controversial cafe and bar at Assagao.
Rodrigues said no one has claimed that the premises are owned or that the licenses were in the name of Smriti Irani’s family.
“All that has been alleged is that the illegal Silly Souls Cafe and Bar was being run by Smriti Irani’s family and that there was enough prima facie evidence to that effect,” Rodrigues argued.
He said in an interview with a food vlogger, the Union Minister’s daughter had spelt out her motive in opening what she described as an international restaurant in Goa and that Smriti Irani had shared that interview on social media while tagging her daughter on the restaurant and bar’s social media account stating that she was “so proud”.
The social activist alleged that there was no need for any further evidence that the now late Anthony D’Gama was just a front while the Iranis were running the show.
“It was no surprise that Silly Souls Cafe and Bar was quickly built and the excise licence issued all in total breach of law,” he alleged.
He also alleged that all the work on the restaurant and bar was carried out in 2020-21 possibly taking advantage in the midst of the raging Covid pandemic.
