New Delhi Restaurant Denied Entry of Street Children, AAP Minister Asked For Inquiry

New Delhi: On Saturday, a reputed eatery called Shiv Sagar Restaurant at Connaught Place of New Delhi had allegedly denied to give access few under-privileged children, brought by a woman, Sonali Shetty, to celebrate her husband’s birthday. Shetty, a writer from Dehradun, had taken eight street children to the restaurant for lunch.

“I had taken 8 underprivileged children for lunch to Shiv Sagar restaurant but the staff there denied to serve us. I was also ridiculed and threatened to keep off the restaurant,” she said. Both Sonali and the restaurant owner have filed complaints of misbehavior.

Reports are the shetty alleged that the restaurant staff denied serving the children because they were ‘shabbily dressed.’ While the owner of the Shiv Sagar franchise, Vidur Kanodia, said that Shetty demanded food to be served free of cost to the children.

Another employee, Roma Malhotra from the restaurant later had stated that, “It is completely untrue that we denied entry to the children, as we have it on record that we allowed them to sit inside. We also never said that we won’t provide service to the children. But then the kids were making a lot of noise, tossing things around and creating a commotion. As a restaurateur, I have the right to deny service to someone who disturbs other customers.”

Sonali went for a protest in front of the restaurant for over 10 hours till 12 at the night. She also had termed the incident as a ‘failure of the society’. Following the incident, New Delhi District Magistrate had visited the restaurant and questioned the employees, staffs and the owner and noted it.

New Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, following the issue, had termed the incident as an ‘example of typical colonial mindset’. He added that the restaurant’s license will be cancelled if found guilty. He also asked the DM to conduct an enquiry and submit the report within 24 hours.