Team Herald
PANJIM: Trouble mounts for Union Minister Smriti Irani as the controversial family-run Silly Souls restaurant & bar, allegedly run by her daughter Zoish, has now come under the scrutiny of the Department of Panchayats.
The department’s Director, Siddhi Harlankar, on Wednesday, directed the Block Development Officer (BDO) Bardez to take necessary action on a complaint filed by whistleblower Adv Aires Rodrigues. The complainant had written to the department alleging that the establishment was illegally built sans any construction licence, and sought immediate action.
“Within the jurisdiction of Assagao Panchayat in Bardez at Bouta Vaddo in Survey No. 236 Sub Division No 21 and 22 a huge illegal construction has come up including a compound wall. The construction activity which reportedly started in 2019-2020 is now a huge bar & restaurant under the name of ‘Silly Souls Café and Bar’ and it was pertinent to note that sub-division 21 was a tenanted field which has been illegally filled in absolute breach of law,” Rodrigues stated in the petition filed before the Department of Panchayats on Tuesday.
The restaurant is already facing allegations of running the bar on a forged liquor licence, with the Excise Department scheduled to hear the matter on a show cause notice issued to the owner, on Friday.
