10 November,2023 11:47 AM IST | Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Mahua Moitra/ X
Trinamool Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra said the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has been acting like a "Kangaroo" court while it is looking into her involvement in the 'cash for query' scam. According to Moitra, the committee does not have the power to remove her from the Lok Sabha. She said that she was proud that she might be the first person to be wrongfully expelled by a committee in the absence of expulsion decrees, stated the agency reports.
"Proud to go down in parliamentary history as 1st person to be unethically expelled by Ethics Comm whose mandate doesn't include explusion. 1st expel & THEN ask govt to ask CBI to find evidence. Kangaroo court, monkey business from start to finish," she wrote in her social media post. (sic)
The Krishnanagar MP asserted that the BJP's accusations - especially those levelled by MP Nishikant Dubey - would increase her prospects of regaining the Lok Sabha seat in 2024 by a wider margin. The opposition parties strongly backed the TMC leader amid the adoption of a draft report on the cash for query claims, by the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, which is chaired by BJP MP Vinod Sonkar, the report added.
Supporting its MP, the Trinamool Congress questioned the committee's transparency and said it had released the findings to the public too soon. TMC Minister Sashi Panja chastised the procedure, stressing that recommendations must come after a thorough examination, stated the report.
The draft report, which accused Moitra of "unethical conduct" and disclosing her login details, was approved by a committee on Thursday by a vote of 6 to 4. Preneet Kaur, a Congress MP, was one of the six members who backed the report. Sonkar said that Speaker Om Birla of the Lok Sabha would receive a thorough report and make any necessary decisions from there.
According to the draft report, Moitra travelled to the United Arab Emirates four times between 2019 and 2023, and her login was accessed from Dubai 47 times. Citing serious 'misdemeanours' relating to accepting cash, gifts, and amenities from Dubai-based business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani, it urged harsh punishment, possibly up to expulsion.
Together, the opposition members of parliament expressed their disapproval of the inquiry's unfairness and demanded that Hiranandani be summoned in by the committee to conduct a thorough and unbiased investigation. The 500-page draft report includes findings of "contempt of the house" and "unethical conduct."
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed last month that Moitra was deliberately targeting the Adani Group in the Lok Sabha at Hiranandani's request. The Ethics Committee has emphasized the legal ramifications of exchanging login passwords under the IT ACT 2000 by requesting comprehensive data on IP addresses and whereabouts from the IT and Home Affairs ministries, the report added.
