Goa Bar Allegation: Union Minister Smriti Irani Sends Legal Notice To Cong & Its 3 Leaders - India Bytes

Bhubaneswar: Union minister Smriti Irani on Sunday sent legal notices to the Congress and its three leaders, asking them to apologise for making “baseless and false” allegations against her daughter.

The minister’s action came a day after the Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera alleged that her 18-year-old daughter Zoish Irani ran a bar illegally in Goa and also targeted the minister over this. They demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to drop Irani from his Cabinet.

If they do not tender an unconditional and unequivocal apology and withdraw their allegations, Irani will initiate civil and criminal proceedings against them, the legal notice said. The letter has also been sent to Mahila Congress leader Netta D’Souza.

“The allegations made by the addressees against our client contain ex-facie false, baseless and unsubstantiated information which is being published and disseminated publicly, without any verification by you, the addressees and yet, being accessed by members of the public at large, all around the world. This is a part of a larger conspiracy to garner political mileage by sensationalizing falsities, misrepresentations and false narratives; and obviously is with a motive to injure the reputation, goodwill, social and political standing as also the character of our client,” Times of India quoted the letter sent by Irani’s lawyer.

“The false allegations were intended to hurt the reputation of Our Client as a minister and a person in public life, and also to outrage her modesty and that of her daughter. These are serious offenses under the Indian Penal Code and also a tort making the Addressees liable to penal damages,” the notice further said.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday, the minister said, “Two middle-aged Congress men are responsible for the character assassination of an 18-year-old girl. Her only fault is that her mother talks about Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. She is studying in college and her fault is that her mother held a press conference against the two Gandhi’s. My daughter is not a politician and she has a normal life as a student.”