Activist challenges Excise Commissioner's order in Goa restaurant case

Panaji: Activist Aires Rodrigues on Tuesday filed an appeal before the Goa Chief Secretary against an order of the Excise Commissioner in a case pertaining to the controversial 'Silly Souls Café and Bar' at Assagao.

Opposition Congress had tried to link the restaurant to the family of Union Minister Smriti Irani, an allegation she had denied.

In an October 10 order, Excise Commissioner Narayan Gad allowed Silly Souls Café and Bar's excise license, renewed in the name of late Anthony D'Gama, to be transferred to his widow.

“Under section 40 of the Goa Excise Act, an appeal against excise commissioner's order lies before the chief secretary," Rodrigues told PTI.

In the appeal, he claimed that a licence obtained 'illegally and by fraud' could not have been transferred in the name of D'Gama's widow.

In his complaint filed with the Excise Commissioner on July 20, 2022, Rodrigues had alleged that the licence was issued illegally in January 2021 in the name of D'Gama, and renewed in his name in June 2022 a year after his demise.