Congress’ undignified attack on Smriti Irani’s daughter shows how it remains awfully beholden to the Gandhis

Hell hath no fury like a mother whose child is maliciously attacked, wrote popular commentator Sunanda Vashisht, in response to Smriti Irani’s press conference rebutting allegations made in a rather distasteful and undignified way by the Congress spokespersons. A news and opinion website The Wire broke a story about a restaurant in Goa getting a show-cause notice for allegedly not following procedure in renewing its liquor licence. This story was based on an RTI application by a Goa-based lawyer-activist who obtained his hands on the show-cause notice. The Congress party immediately latched onto this to hurl uncharitable remarks at Smriti Irani and her daughter Zoish Irani. In its eagerness to attack Irani, who trounced Congress’ heir apparent Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and has been at the forefront of BJP’s attacks on the Gandhi family, the spokespersons jumped several deductive dots to this story without any due diligence whatsoever. They relied on a video interview of Zoish Irani at the said restaurant talking about the restaurant and its vision. That led the Congress spokespersons to tar Zoish by association, as if she was the owner of that restaurant. What followed were undignified labels such as ‘sanskari bar’ and insinuations that Zoish is running an ‘illegal bar’ and that her mother is an ‘illegal bar wali’. It is public knowledge that Zoish Irani has found her passion in the culinary field. As a proud and doting mother, it is particularly heart-warming for Smriti Irani that Zoish is following this passion. What the Congress spectacularly failed to ascertain is whether Zoish still works there (she does not, as she is pursuing education abroad) or whether she is an owner of that establishment (she is not). What the Congress also failed to understand is that this notice is merely a show-cause notice. Such a notice is issued when there is a likelihood of improper procedure followed and the establishment against which it is issued is required to show good cause why the establishment should not be penalised. In other words, the fact that this is an ‘illegal restaurant/bar’ isn’t even conclusive. The owner of the establishment has an opportunity to explain and even take corrective steps. And what was the violation? That the license was renewed under the name of the previous owner (now deceased). Indeed, if signatures are forged or documents are fabricated to obtain a license, that is quite a serious violation. And, given the facts we know so far, that isn’t even the case. In fact, the show-cause notice recognises that the authorities were requested to renew the license in the name of the deceased with an undertaking that the license would be duly transferred to the successor. Strange? Not at all. Section 104(2) of the Goa, Daman and Diu (Excise Duty) Rules, 1964 explicitly recognises that the Commissioner may permit the use of the license to the successor with an undertaking that the license shall be transferred in the name of the successor within a certain time-period. What seems to have happened is that the time-period given to the successor elapsed, and the necessary formalities to transfer the license weren’t undertaken. While the inquiry and hearing will take place, on first look, there seems to be no evidence of fraud, fabrication or forgery, but, quite likely, a procedural lapse. To jump from a likely procedural lapse on the part of the current owner of the restaurant/bar to hurling derogatory and defamatory labels on Smriti Irani and her daughter, the Congress has again demonstrated why it’s not able to launch even half-worthy attacks on its rivals. Indeed, if Zoish was the signatory in the license application, it would still have made sense that the Congress questioned the intent to ever transfer the said license in the name of the new owner. Even then, the questioning could have still been dignified. Nowhere in the show-cause notice or in the renewal application was Zoish mentioned nor was she a signatory. The Congress ended up giving Smriti Irani a juicy full-toss to take this defamatory behaviour both to the court of law and to the court of public opinion. What, however, it also did was to lower the political discourse by several steps. Neither is Zoish in politics nor has she publicly expressed a political opinion. Politicians have families. Their family members often have aspirations which may have absolutely nothing to do with politics. Irani has evidently empowered her children to pursue whatever path they want to. To drag an aspiring chef — all of eighteen years old — into the battle between Irani and the Gandhis shows how the Congress has dug itself into a deeper and darker pit. The hope, however, is that what Zoish Irani is having to go through, painful and unjust as it is, doesn’t go in vain. The hope is that the Indian polity draws a firm line with regard to attacks on each other — a line that is never crossed. The author is a lawyer and author of the book ‘The Smriti Irani Story: Why She Won Amethi’. Views expressed are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .