AERIAL VIEW
Secondly, what is pertinent to note here is that no show cause was issued to the owners by the FDA. Without notice, they entered the premises of Pisco by the Beach, and after inspection they did not even show cause or compliance with any violations seen at the place.
This proves that the owners were given no time to comply with the violations. So, where is the chance for natural justice here?
Secondly, does the FDA have the power to suspend a licence without a show cause? Yes, it does but only in case of food poisoning, stale food being served or a complaint from the public or a public emergency.
Editor, Goemkarponn
On Monday, the Food and Drugs Administration issued a shutdown order to Congress Legislator Delilah Lobo’s restaurant – PISCO BY THE BEACH, in Anjuna.
Through the order, the FDA has found about 22 discrepancies during the random inspection by the officials, who initially were forcing the staff to shut down verbally without any written order, which the owners refused to do.
But the Minister for Health Vishwajit Rane was so adamant that despite being out of the country, he instructed the FDA team to issue shut down notice. The shocking part is that even before the shutdown was issued to the owners, it reached the media houses.
Secondly, what is pertinent to note here is that no show cause was issued to the owners by the FDA. Without notice, they entered the premises of Pisco by the Beach, and after inspection they did not even show cause or compliance with any violations seen at the place.
This proves that the owners were given no time to comply with the violations. So, where is the chance for natural justice here?
Secondly, does the FDA have the power to suspend a licence without a show cause? Yes, it does but only in case of food poisoning, stale food being served or a complaint from the public or a public emergency.
In this case, the inspection was arbitrary and to settle personal scores, Mr Rane decides to shut down to satisfy his ego.
Another issue is why is Vishwajit Rane only looking at the illegalities of Michael Lobo? Is he using the same yardstick for other illegalities? Many in the BJP government itself have committed gross violations, but what is the minister doing?
We have come to understand there has been a complaint of gross violation by a BJP MLA on the TCP minister PRIVATE email id, which he claims to be official. But sadly, it is being ignored or overlooked. Who knows, by now, the complaint may have been deleted by now.
One fails to understand the logic behind providing the personal email id. BJP leaders claim that a personal email id is given to protect the identity of the complainant but does that mean the National Informatics Centre is leaking the government mails? So the NIC cannot be trusted?
Another critical point is the minister must stop his Twitter outbursts. He is asking everyone to respect the law and allow the law to take its own course. But why is he in such a hurry to reveal everything on Twitter? Why does he not wait for enquiries to be completed?
The impatience of the Minister for TCP, Forest, Health, and Urban Development is palpable. He seems to be in a hurry to demolish every establishment owned by the Lobos.
Agreed, the illegalities, if any, cannot be tolerated, but there is also something called natural justice. A minister cannot force the officials to go and shut down any establishment in an arbitrary manner. It’s not just about the people but also several employees working there.
Finally, Rane seems to want to act as a dictator and in a hurry to demolish everything so that he can prove an upmanship over CM Dr Pramod Sawant.
