A photo is being widely shared on social media claiming it is a picture taken at Union Minister Smriti Irani’s 18-year-old daughter’s engagement ceremony held in December 2021. Following the Congress party’s allegations about Smriti Irani’s daughter Zoish Irani running an illegal bar in Goa, Smriti Irani held a press meet and asserted that her 18-year-old daughter is a first-year college student and does not run any bar. The post accuses Smriti Irani of committing the crime of arranging a child marriage to her 18-year-old daughter. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Engagement photo of Smriti Irani’s 18-year-old daughter Zoish Irani.
Fact: The photo shared in the post shows the engagement picture of Smriti Irani’s stepdaughter Shanelle Irani, not of Zoish Irani whom Smriti Irani mentioned as her 18-year-old daughter in the press meet. This photo has nothing to do with the latest controversy surrounding Smriti Irani’s daughter Zoish Irani. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, we found the same photo published on Smriti Irani’s official Instagram handle on 25 December 2021. Smriti Irani published this photo announcing her first daughter Shanelle Irani’s engagement with Arjun Bhalla.
As per reports, Shanelle Irani is the daughter of Smriti Irani’s husband Zubin Irani and his first wife Mona Irani. Apart from Shanelle, Zubin has two more children with Smriti Irani, son Zohr Irani and daughter Zoish Irani. Shah Rukh Khan has revealed on Instagram that he had named Shanelle, daughter of his friend Zubin Irani and stepdaughter of Union Minister Smriti Irani
Smriti Irani shared multiple photos of her family on her official social media handles. They can be seen here, here and here. According to the reports, Shanelle Irani graduated from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai. She received a degree in law from the Government Law College in Mumbai, followed by an LLM degree from Georgetown University Law Centre, Washington DC.
In April 2022, Smriti Irani took to Instagram to share food writer Kunal Vijaykar’s positive review for the Silly Souls Restaurant, allegedly run by her daughter Zoish Irani. Sharing the review, Smriti Irani reportedly said, “so proud @zoishirani @sillysoulsgoa”. The full video showing Kunal Vijaykar reviewing Silly Souls Goa restaurant while eating along with Zoish Irani can be seen here. The photo shared in the post does not show Zoish Irani, whom Smriti Irani mentioned as her 18-year-old daughter studying graduation first year in a college.
To sum it up, this photo shows the engagement of Smriti Irani’s stepdaughter Shanelle Irani, not of Zoish Irani whom Congress accused of running an illegal bar.
