Union minister for minorities and women and child development in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government Smriti Irani is in the news for her daughter Zoish’s Silly Souls Café and Bar in Assagao, Goa. The Congress has alleged that a response to a Right to Information (RTI) query suggested that Zoish was "running an illegal bar… after obtaining a fake license for it,” reported The Times of India (ToI) on July 24, 2022.
Smriti (l) and Zoish Irani
Zoish’s lawyer Kirat Nagra called the charges "concocted.” Smriti has sent a legal notice to Congressmen who leveled the charges asking for an "unconditional apology and withdrawal of allegation” against her daughter with immediate effect, state news reports.
Zoish’s father is Zubin Irani, a Dahanu based agriculturist.
The claims were made by Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera and the party’s Goa chief Amit Patkar at separate press conferences. Khera has alleged that the excise official who gave the notice to the bar is reportedly being transferred "after pressure from the authorities.” Patkar told ToI that the excise department reportedly ignored a police report of January 2021 that the applicant of the liquor license was not a resident of Goa and issued two permits, one for Indian made foreign liquor and another for foreign liquor.
Smriti termed the charges as "malicious” and said they "mutilated” the character of her 18-year-old daughter because of her mother’s "vocal stand on the ‘loot’ by (Congress leaders) Sonia and Rahul Gandhi” in the National Herald case, stated media reports. The Gandhis have been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for their role in the case and face allegations of cheating and breach of trust.