Social after apologizing and removing the hurtful decor had hit out at Almeida when he sought the owner and designer's name be mentioned in the FIR
Nicholas Almeida, the whose complaint lead to filing of an FIR against Goregaon Social furthered the fight against the owner. On Sunday Almeida said that they will be serving a defamation notice seeking apology for the Social hitting out so atrociously. "He has without reason said that we are lying and extorting. We have served a defamation notice for the same. He has also said that I am instigating people. In fact Social has hurt my religious sentiments," said Almeida.
Godfrey Pimenta, who served the notice on behalf of Almeida and who runs Watchdog Foundation along with Almeida, said, "We have not sought for any damages but instead an unconditional apology. He has to run this through us after which we will have it published prominently." Pimenta said that their NGO takes up cases that are social, environmental and of a civic nature. "It is coincidence that we are Catholics," said Pimenta.
Social after apologizing and removing the hurtful decor had hit out at Almeida when he sought the owner and designer's name be mentioned in the FIR. Riyaaz Amlani, chief executive officer of Socials in an email statement said, "We are in contact with the Archdiocese of Mumbai and our apology has been accepted. This purported Christian NGO is taking vigilante and motivated actions by spreading lies and exaggerating truths for reasons best known to them. They do not represent the church. For instance the tabernacle they refer to is a regular Jagermeister dispenser(attached) found in all bars across the world. In fact the cross on the dispenser is a part of the Jagermeister logo. We will apologise if we have caused any hurt unintentionally. We have also removed all material the representative of the Archdiocese felt could be even remotely blasphemous. But we will not tolerate spread of hatred by lies and extortion by playing on people's religious sentiments. This group clearly does not represent the church as the church would never incite violence and hatred such as this. It is unfortunate that they have resorted to this."
When asked Almeida if he had informed Amlani or anyone else at the Social that the decor was hurtful and that it be removed before filing FIR, Almeida said, "When I saw this place that someone had told me about, I found a lot of things that hurt my religious sentiments. I did not have Amlani's number. why should I wait for that. My first step was to complain to the PM, CM and then go to the police. There was an 11 hour time gap after between me informing the police and filing an FIR. Why did he not get in touch with me in that time period. The replica of the Jagermeister tabernacle is wrong. It is different than what Jagermeister has." Almeida added, "He first apologised mentioning the name of our NGO and then later criticised us. We have not approached him for extortion"
Spokesperson at Goregaon Social (Impresario Handmade Restaurants), of which Amlani is CEO when contacted stated: "We are in communication with the Church, and the Church has categorically informed us on record for us not to engage with any other group other than the Archdiocese of Mumbai. As far as the Church is concerned the matter is closed. As per the guidance of the Church we are not to engage with any organisations other than the Archdiocese."
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Goregaon Social")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}