The BJP which is known to speak out on anything, and everything has surprisingly maintained stoic silence on the controversy revolving around ‘Silly Souls Café and Bar’ allegedly being run by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani’s family in Assagao. It is not surprising that on account of high-level political patronage, the restaurant was also constructed without the required licenses and permissions while more importantly it has come up on a tenanted field which is in gross violation of law.
The evidence surrounding the running of the restaurant and bar is overwhelming with Smriti’s daughter admitting on site that she runs it and subsequent denials by Smriti that she doesn’t. One of them is clearly not telling the truth. It is further surprising that the Chief Minister of Goa and the concerned ministers have also kept their lips sealed on this raging controversy. While the Excise Department, Directorate of Panchayats and the Town & Country Planning department adjudicate on all these glaring illegalities, in keeping with probity in public life Irani should gracefully resign while tendering a sincere apology to the nation.
