Excise hearing on Silly Souls begins : Excise Commissioner directed the licence holder to file his response to the queries of the opposing counsel

Commissioner adjourns hearing till August 22 after directing the licence holder to file his response to the queries of the opposing counsel

Smriti Irani: File picture

PTI   |   Panaji   |    30.07.22  : Goa’s excise commissioner on Friday began hearing a complaint that the licence to run Silly Souls Café and Bar, which the Congress alleges is linked to Union minister Smriti Irani’s family, was obtained “illegally” and that it was renewed this year in the name of a person who had died in 2021.

Irani has denied allegations that her daughter runs the property.

During the hearing, excise commissioner Narayan Gad framed two issues — to know whether the excise licence was obtained on the basis of false and inadequate documents and misrepresentation of facts, and whether there were any procedural irregularities on the part of the excise officials.

The complaint was filed by activist and lawyer Aires Rodrigues.

Gad heard Rodrigues and advocate Benny Nazareth, representing the family of the liquor licence holder Anthony Dgama, who died last year.

Directing the licence holder to file his response to the two issues, the excise commissioner adjourned the hearing till August 22. The hearing began at 11am and concluded for the day around 12.30pm.

While late Anthony Dgama’s son Dean was present for Friday’s hearing, advocate Rodrigues told the excise commissioner that the name of the other existing son, Dale, had been conveniently suppressed.

Rodrigues, in his complaint, said the excise rules in Goa allow a bar licence to be issued only to an existing restaurant, but norms were violated in the present case.

“The excise department, on February 18, 2021, in rank violation of law issued a licence for retail sale of foreign liquor for consumption on the premises along with another licence for retail sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor and country liquor to the outlet without the required restaurant licence being in place,” the complaint said.

He said the licence in the name of Anthony Dgama was approved despite the Aadhaar card submitted by him showing he was a resident of Mumbai and that the document was issued only on December 30, 2020, days before the application for an excise licence was filed.

Rodrigues, in his complaint, also pointed out that in June the local excise office at Mapusa, in clear contravention of law, “renewed the excise licence in the name of Dgama despite him having passed away last year on May 17, 2021, as per the death certificate issued by the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai”.