A report of the ethics committee which recommended the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in a "cash-for-query" case was introduced in Lok Sabha on Friday. The report was tabled in the House around 12 noon.As soon as the House met again at 2 pm after an adjournment, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion for discussion on the panel report. As the Lok Sabha discusses the report, TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay requests that Mahua Moitra be allowed to present her side before the House.He says, "...What I propose - my party's spokesperson will be Mahua Moitra herself because allegation is against her. Wild allegations have been raised. Whether it is true or wrong, let it be spoken by her..."Mahua Moitra, a Member of Parliament for Trinamool Congress (TMC) from West Bengal state's Krishnanagar constituency, was accused by her former personal friend and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and Nishikant Dubey — a lawmaker from PM Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party — of accepting money and expensive gifts for asking a certain set of questions in Lok Sabha.
Moitra has accepted that she shared her online credentials with a businessman friend to allow submission of her pre-approved questions which she later intended to ask in Lok Sabha. In Lok Sabha, the lawmakers are directly elected by the people in general elections. Moitra is one of the prominent leaders of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC), one of a handful of political parties that Modi-led BJP's electoral juggernaut has been unable to dislodge from power. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Moitra, accusing her of asking questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani, in exchange for gifts. Dubey further claimed that lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai provided him with proof of the alleged bribes. Nishikant Dubey, an elected representative of Jharkhand state's Godda constituency, has demanded that Moitra be suspended, citing a 2005 precedent when 11 Members of Parliament were disqualified over "cash for query" accusations.
While Moitra herself admitted that she shared her parliamentary login details, she asserted that most MPs share their login credentials with others.Besides, the businessman in question — Darshan Hiranandani — admitted gifting Moitra "expensive luxury items", as well as payments for the "renovation of her official bungalow". He also accepted posting "questions directly on her behalf" using the Parliament login and password that Moitra provided him. Hiranandani made these admissions under Apostille method to the consulate general of India in Dubai. Apostille is a method of certifying a document or statement provided or made in a country other than the one where it is to be used. The ethics committee has reportedly taken a grim view of the charges against Moitra. During one of its proceedings, Moitra accused its chief Vinod Kumar Sonkar of asking "filthy and personal" questions to her.