A Goa-based activist has claimed he’s being targeted for his efforts on public interest issues and for highlighting alleged irregularities involving BJP leader and former minister Smriti Irani’s daughter’s cafe in Goa through RTI requests.
Aires Rodrigues, a 64-year-old activist, won a legal battle on July 25 when the Bombay High Court ruled in his favour and directed the Centre to reconsider his application for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status. The court pointed out that the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, lacked valid grounds to reject his application.
Despite this, Rodrigues found that the FRRO website lists his application status as “closed.”
Rodrigues first applied for OCI status in June last year, after he gave up his Indian passport for a Portuguese one. He re-applied on January 25 this year after his previous attempts were turned down.
Portuguese law allows individuals born in Goa before December 19, 1961, the day the state was freed from colonial rule, to obtain Portuguese citizenship along with their children and grandchildren. Since Indian law does not permit dual citizenship, OCI status is seen as the best alternative.
“Last year, after opting for a Portuguese passport, I had applied for OCI and was told that I should be residing in India for six months before applying. After six months, I reapplied and was told in three months that my application was canceled. It is pertinent to note that despite the high court order being passed on July 25 and being communicated to the MHA and FRRO immediately, the website of the FRRO Mumbai still shows the status of my application as ‘application closed’. The attitude of the government could not be more obvious,” he told Newslaundry.
“Over the last few decades, I have in public interest taken up issues against successive governments. But I don’t think I deserve to be selectively targeted because of that. Maybe I am paying the price for having taken on the might of Smriti Irani…I hope the MHA will be fair and just while not being influenced by forces that want to be vindictive…In case of a continued witch-hunt, I hope to get justice from god and the judiciary.”
In July last year, reports had claimed that the Silly Souls Goa Café and Bar, allegedly run by Smriti Irani’s daughter Zoish, had renewed its liquor licence illegally.
Later, the Delhi High Court observed that Irani and her daughter are neither owners of the restaurant in Goa nor have they ever applied for the licence for food and beverages at the eatery, as alleged.
