NEW DELHI, Aug 1: Providing a great relief to Smriti Irani and shock to the Congress, the Delhi High Court has concluded that the Union Minister and her daughter are not the owners of the Goa restaurant and bar.
In its order on Monday dashing the Congress allegations against them, the Delhi High Court said the Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera, Netta D’Souza along with others conspired to “launch a tirade of false scathing and belligerent personal attacks” on BJP leader Smriti Irani and her daughter.
“Considering the documents on record, it is clearly seen that there was no license which was ever issued in favour of the plaintiff or her daughter. The plaintiff or her daughter are not the owners of the restaurant. It has also been established by the plaintiff prima facie that the plaintiff or her daughter never applied for license,” the court said while hearing a 2-crore civil defamation suit filed by Ms Irani, the Minister for Women and Child Development, against the three Congress leaders.
Smriti Irani had been targeted by the Congress with allegations that her 18-year-old daughter is running an “illegal bar” in Goa. The High Court said it was of the considered view that the statements made by the Congress leaders were in the “nature of slander and seem to be bogus with malicious intent, only to garner the highest amount of viewership thereby intentionally subjecting the plaintiff to a great public ridicule.”
It added that “Plaintiff (Irani) has made out a prima facie case and balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendants.” The High Court also said if the Congress leaders failed to remove their tweets, Twitter would have to do so.
(Manas Dasgupta)
