Smriti Irani has sent a legal notice to Congress leaders over allegations her daughter ran illegal bar in Goa, ndtv.com quoted news agency ANI

The Congress on Saturday had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack his cabinet colleague Smriti Irani, saying illegalities had been exposed in an upscale restaurant-cum-bar reportedly run by her daughter in Goa.

The Congress is not making any wild allegation like Irani does, party spokesperson Pawan Khera told a news conference, adding that the charges were based on RTI answers and a showcause issued by the commissioner of excise, Narayan M. Gad, to the restaurant.

Silly Souls Café & Bar, “the restaurant run by Irani’s daughter, fraudulently procured a licence for the bar. She used forged papers to get the licence,” Khera said.

Kirat Nagra, lawyer for Irani’s daughter, said his client neither owned nor operated the restaurant called Silly Souls and had not received any showcause notice from any authority whatsoever.

But a local lawyer, Aires Rodrigues, who had lodged a complaint with the excise commissioner and filed the RTI application, asserted that everybody in Goa knew that Silly Souls was run by the Irani family.

Congress spokesperson Khera promptly posted a report on Twitter that suggested Irani had been proud as praise poured in for her daughter’s Goa restaurant.

Irani fiercely contested the charge, saying her 18-year-old daughter Zoish Irani studies in college and does not run a bar.

Threatening to drag the Congress to court, Irani said: “My daughter’s fault is that her mother holds a press conference on the loot of Rs 5,000 crore by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Her fault is that her mother fought against Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress ‘assassinated’ and ‘publicly mutilated’ my daughter’s character. Let the Congress show proof of any wrongdoing.”

With PTI inputs