The Delhi High Court on Monday ruled that Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani and her daughter are not the proprietors of the Goa restaurant and have never filed for a food and beverage licence at the establishment. According to the court, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, Netta D’Souza, and others colluded to “launch a barrage of false caustic and aggressive personal insults” on the mother-daughter duo.
According to news agency PTI, the high court stated that the statements made by three Congress leaders “are in the nature of slander and appear to be bogus with malicious intent” to intentionally subject Irani to “great public ridicule” and “to injure the moral character and public image” of the BJP leader and her daughter.
The comments were made by the high court when it was reviewing papers in a civil defamation complaint filed by Irani against the three Congress leaders. On Monday, the high court’s ruling, in which it issued summons to three Congress leaders in the civil defamation claim on July 29, was posted on the court’s website.
Irani’s decision occurred after Congress lawmakers claimed that her daughter Zoish Irani illegally operated a bar in Goa and also targeted the minister, requesting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi remove her from his Cabinet.
