'Cash-for-query' case: Mahua Moitra expelled from Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha on Friday (December 8) expelled Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra after holding her guilty of sharing her credentials with others and accepting gifts from a businessman to extend favours.

After a heated debate during which Moitra was not allowed to speak, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion to expel the Trinamool member for "unethical conduct", which was adopted by a voice vote.

Opposition members walked out of the House as the Lok Sabha speaker started the voting process on the motion moved by Joshi.

The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha had recommended Moitra's expulsion from the House over the "cash-for-query" allegation.

Earlier, LS took up for discussion a report of the Ethics Committee recommending the expulsion of Moitra in the "cash-for-query" case, with Opposition members seeking more time to study the 495-page document.

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.

Speaker Om Birla said if some strict decisions have to be taken against any member, they have to be taken to uphold the dignity of the House.

He said it was painful that at times the House has to take up such matters. But, he said, it is because the dignity of the institution has to be maintained at any cost.

Birla said it was the collective duty of the House to take steps to ensure the prestige of the institution remains unblemished.

He said the House will discuss the report for half-an-hour but opposition members insisted that more time be given.

Congress leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury demanded that three to four days be given to the members to go through the nearly 500-page report.

Earlier in the day, the Parliamentary Ethics Committee tabled its report in the Lok Sabha. "Serious misdemeanors on the part of Mahua Moitra call for severe punishment," it said. "The Committee, therefore, recommends that Mahua Moitra, MP, may be expelled from the Membership of the 17th Lok Sabha".

The committee also recommended "intense, legal, institutional inquiry" against Moitra by the Centre in "a time-bound manner", It further called for an investigation into the "money trail" between Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani.

Further, it recommended that Kunwar Danish Ali, BSP MP, be "admonished" for twisting the intent of the questions put by Vijay Sonkar, the Ethics Panel chief, to Moitra during her deposition before the panel.

Reacting to the development, Ali said: "We are demanding a discussion on the report because the discussions were incomplete even at the Ethics Committee meet. The deposition of the one against whom allegations have been made was not complete. The kind of questions that were asked of her were such that five members of the committee walked out. After that walkout, the adoption report was put forth and it was adopted within 2.30 minutes. Having a majority doesn't mean that you will do whatever you want..."

How the issue progressed

The Ethics Committee, at a meeting on November 9, had adopted its report recommending Moitra's expulsion from the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, the CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) which is the first step towards ascertaining if the allegations in the case merit a full-fledged investigation. If enough prima facie material is found during the PE, the CBI can convert it into an FIR.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had approached the Lokpal with a complaint against Moitra over allegations of taking bribes to raise questions in Parliament. He had also accused Moitra of compromising national security for monetary gains.

Dubey had accused Moitra of asking questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts. Moitra has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that she was being targeted as she had raised questions on the deals of the Adani group.

The CBI's involvement in the case stemmed from a complaint filed by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai against Moitra. Dehadrai alleged that Moitra received bribes from Hiranandani in exchange for posing questions in Parliament.

The Ethics Committee, following hearings, recommended Moitra's expulsion from the House due to purportedly accepting unlawful favours to raise questions for Hiranandani. The report, endorsed by a 6:4 verdict, also accused Moitra of "unethical conduct" and "contempt of the House."

Moitra protested during the November 2 hearing, citing personal and derogatory queries and accused Ethics Committee chairman Vinod Sonkar of echoing questions from Dehadrai, referring to him as her "jilted ex."

(With agency inputs)