Goa Excise Commissioner Narayan Gad will on Monday 12th September continue the hearing on the complaint filed by Adv. Aires Rodrigues over the illegally obtained liquor licence by the now controversial ‘Silly Souls Café and Bar’ in Assagao allegedly run by the family of Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.
Adv. Rodrigues in his complaint has alleged that the licence was renewed in June this year in the name of a dead person as the licence holder Anthony Dgama had passed away on 17th May last year.
At this hearing Adv. Rodrigues has to file his response to the reply submitted by the family of Anthony Dgama to the show cause notice issued by the Excise Department on 21st July. New revelations have now come to light with, Adv. Rodrigues obtaining under the RTI Act a copy of the lease agreement executed at Mapusa on 7th January 2021 to the effect that the property at Assagao where Silly Souls Café & Bar is located was leased by Anthony Dgama to Eightall Food and Beverages Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) which is operating in partnership with Ugraya Mercantile Pvt Limited of which Zubin Irani the husband of Smriti Irani is a Director. The lease is with effect from 1st January 2021 for a period of 10 years at a monthly rent of Rs 50,000. Interestingly the application for Excise license in the name of Anthony Dgama was made on 5th January 2021 despite the premises having been leased with effect from 1st January 2021 to Eightall Food and Beverages (LLP).
Also obtained by Adv. Rodrigues now are documents to the effect that the Food & Drugs licence issued to Silly Souls Café & Bar is in the name of Eightall Food and Beverages (LLP) and that the GST No 30AAIFE7039H1ZM is all in the name of Eightall Food and Beverages LLP.
Silly Souls Café & Bar has remained closed ever since the controversy over the legality of its Excise licence broke out in July.
