Delhi HC, vindicating Smriti Irani and her daughter of all charges

Rattled by the successive loss, Indian National Congress is not able to find issues to oppose the ruling party. Leaving the world of real issues in the country to oppose, Congress has now reached a new low. They are now trying to pull young children into their dirty politics. The High Court of Delhi, vindicating Smriti Irani and her daughter of all charges, has asked Congress to withdraw its false allegations.

The false allegation against Smriti Irani

The Sully Souls restaurant situated in Goa’s Assagao was found to have a renewed liquor license using the name of a deceased person. Narayan M Gad, the excise commissioner of Goa, had earlier on July 21 issued a show-cause notice to the restaurant. It was done after receiving a complaint that accused the owner of submitting “fraudulent and fabricated documents” to get the license.

Subsequently, on July 23, 2022, Congress accused that the bar was being run by daughter of Smriti Irani, Zoish Irani. Lamenting the corruption charges, Congress further asked for her resignation from the cabinet ministry.

गोवा के कानून के हिसाब से एक रेस्टोरेंट को बार का एक ही लाइसेंस मिल सकता है, इस रेस्टोरेंट को 2 लाइसेंस मिले हैं।
वहीं तीसरा फर्जीवाड़ा यह है कि इस रेस्टोरेंट को रेस्टोरेंट चलाने का लाइसेंस भी नहीं मिला है : श्री @Pawankhera #स्मृति_ईरानी_चुप्पी_तोड़ो
— Congress (@INCIndia) July 23, 2022

Delhi High Court asked Congress to withdraw all allegations

Following this, Smriti Irani sent a legal notice to Congress leader Pawan Khera. She further filed a civil suit in Delhi High Court against false allegations. In the plaint, Smriti Irani pledged that:-

The Plaintiff or her daughter are not the owners of the Restaurant or the property upon which it is situated;
The Plaintiff or her daughter are neither running nor operating the Restaurant or any bar in Goa;
No license for the Restaurant has ever been applied for or granted to the Plaintiff or the Plaintiff’s daughter;
No show cause notice has ever been received by either the Plaintiff or her daughter, till date.

Clearing all charges against Smriti Irani and her daughter, the Delhi High Court observed that Pawan Khera and other congress leaders have “purposefully not verified the purported information available with them before making the defamatory allegations against the plaintiff and her family members”.

The Court said that Congress leaders have “wilfully peddled the falsities despite knowing the facts and information, which information is available in the public domain.”

“Since the plaintiff commands an esteemed position as a Minister in the Government of India and considering the nature of her public office, there is immense public glare and scrutiny of any information about the plaintiff in the public domain. Defendants Nos.1 to 3 have conspired with each other and other individuals and organisations to launch a tirade of false, scathing, and belligerent personal attacks on the plaintiff and her daughter with a common motive to malign, defame and injure the reputation, moral character and public image of the plaintiff and her daughter”, the Court further observed.

Making a prima facie case of slander and libel the Court said that “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 is 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 a license. Neither the restaurant nor the land on which the restaurant exists is owned by the plaintiff or her daughter even the show cause notice issued by the Government of Goa is not in the name of the plaintiff or her daughter. All these facts have also been affirmed in the affidavit by the plaintiff.”

The single bench of the Delhi High Court asserted that the nature of slander seem to be bogus with malicious intent, only to garner the highest amount of viewership thereby intentionally subjecting the plaintiff to great public ridicule.

Justice Mini Pushkarna said that the reputation of an individual has been placed at the highest altar and has been considered as akin to the Right to Life of a citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Thus, there is an imperative need to protect the reputation of an individual, least to say, that of the plaintiff who is a respected member of the society and esteemed member of the Union Ministry.

Consequently, passing an ad-interim injunction, the Court directed Pawan Khera and other Congress leaders “delete and remove the allegations, video of impugned Press Conference dated 23.07.2022 and content published against plaintiff from all the social media platforms, namely, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter”.

In a way, the Delhi High Court has rapped Congress gang for the character assassination of Minister Smriti Irani and her young daughter. The Court’s order clearly describes the dirty game of Congress. They deliberately put false allegations against Smriti Irani and her daughter in the public domain. The Court verifying the actual facts confirmed the slanderous and malicious intent of congress to defame the Minister and her family.