Mahua gets 2-day extension, to appear before LS ethics panel on Nov 2

The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has turned down Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra’s request to summon her for “oral evidence” in the Parliament cash-for-query issue after November 5, but has allowed her a two-day extension. The panel has asked her to appear before it on November 2 to hear her statement in defence.

The committee headed by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar has told the Krishnanagar MP that it would not entertain any further request for extension for any reason whatsoever, “keeping in view the seriousness of the matter, having implications on the dignity of Parliament as well as its Members”.

Moitra on Friday (October 27) wrote to the committee, which is probing the allegations against her, expressing her inability to appear before it on October 31 as scheduled, saying she will be available only after November 5.

The Lok Sabha secretariat told her on Saturday (October 28), “Chairperson, Committee on Ethics has acceded to your request for extension of date for appearing before the Committee on Ethics, i.e., re-scheduling the sitting of the Committee. It has, accordingly, been decided to hear you in the above matter, in person, on 2 November....”

The complaint against Moitra

The committee is looking into the cash-for-query complaint lodged against the feisty TMC leader by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who has cited “irrefutable evidence” presented by advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, once close to her, to accuse Moitra of taking bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group in Parliament.

On Thursday, Dubey and Dehadrai had submitted their “oral evidence” to the panel against Moitra. She has asked for “a fair hearing and an adequate opportunity to defend [herself] against the false, malicious and defamatory accusations levelled against [her] by Shri Dubey and Shri Dehadrai”.

Moitra has dismissed the charges against her while admitting, in remarks to the media, that she shared her parliamentary portal login credentials with Hiranandani in connection with typing questions on her behalf, as he has long been a friend. She has, however, asserted that it was meant only to help her and rejected any quid pro quo.

Dubey has claimed that sharing of parliament login details with anyone is a violation of the agreement with the government body (NIC) managing the portal and is a security risk. The TMC MP, while denying this claim, has alleged the Adani Group to be behind the “bogus” charges due to her strident criticism of the business conglomerate and the government’s alleged support to it.

Hiranandani’s affidavit

Dubey, a leading BJP voice in Lok Sabha, claimed on Saturday that Hiranandani and Moita remain in touch and that attempts are allegedly being made to influence witnesses.

Hiranandani has submitted an affidavit admitting to the allegations that he bribed Moitra to target the Adani Group and also Modi. Moitra has alleged that the businessman filed the affidavit under coercion.

In her letter to the committee, she said on Friday, “I wish to place on record that any enquiry without the oral evidence of Shri Hiranandani will be incomplete, unfair and akin to holding a proverbial ‘kangaroo court’ and that he too will need to be called to depose before the Committee before it prepares its final report.”

(With agency inputs)