Supporters of Congress party wave party flags at an election rally in Bangalore. (Representational Image)
Supporters of Congress party wave party flags at an election rally. (Representational Image)Reuters

A Mumbai restaurant owner's witty take on the corruption tainted UPA government has not gone down well with the Congress Party members who threatened to have it demolished alleging illegal construction.

Aditi Veg Restaurant was in trouble when several Congress workers who had come to refresh themselves at the eatery saw the bill printed with a statement mocking the government.

The bill receipt was printed with the sarcastic line - "As per UPA government, eating money (2G, Coal, CWG scam) is a necessity and eating food in an AC restaurant is a luxury" pointing to the UPA's failures. 

The witty take at the government did not go down well with the party workers and soon youth Congress members stormed the eatery demanding its closure and then filed a defamation suit against the restaurant owner at Bhoiwada police station.

"We have registered a non-cognisable complaint (NC) against the restaurant for printing matter known to be defamatory (Section 501 of IPC) and have settled the matter for now. The restaurant owner has promised that he will not circulate those bills now," a police officer revealed, reported Mid-day.

The woes of the restaurant owner, Srinivas Shetty, is far from over as reports of the restaurant being shut down permanently is on the foreboding on allegations of illegal construction.

Vishwajeet Kadam, the state Youth Congress chief told NDTV, "We have received complaints about Aditi restaurant's illegal construction and misbehaviour with customers."

The party workers alleged that the eatery got permission to sanction the construction illegally with combined efforts of Shiv Sena and BJP.

Soon after the news of the eatery being ransacked for its witty take on the present government came to light, there have been varied reactions with some alleging that the mockery was a harmless criticism with no malicious intent and the owner was liable to freedom of speech.

Congress' foremost outspoken leader Digvijay Singh did not take the incident lightly as he tweeted, "Any kind of intolerance is not Congress Culture. But a restaurant writing what it did in the bill is it justified?"

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi condemned the Congress' intolerant attitude in dealing with the restaurant and forcing it to shut down on Tuesday.