Mahua Moitra row: MP Dubey, lawyer Dehadrai appear before LS ethics panel

New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) Lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and BJP leader Nishikant Dubey on Thursday appeared before the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha to record their statements in connection with the cash-for-query allegations against Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra.

In his complaint to Speaker Om Birla, BJP member Nishikant Dubey has cited documents shared by Dehadrai to back his cash-for-query allegations against Moitra.

Birla had referred the matter to the committee headed by BJP member Vinod Kumar Sonkar.

Dehadrai was the first to record his statement before the Ethics Committee, while Dubey appeared before the panel in the afternoon.

Dubey told reporters that he would reply to whatever questions the committee would ask him.

"Documents don't lie," Dubey said when pointed out that Moitra had refuted all the allegations levelled against her.

In the letter to Birla dated October 15, Dubey said the advocate, close to Moitra before they fell out, has shared "irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged" between her and businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The fiery TMC member dismissed the charges as a "jilted ex's lies", a reference to Dehadrai, and accused the Adani Group of being behind them to target her as she has been relentless in raising questions on the conglomerate's practices and transactions.

In his letter to the speaker, Dubey said 50 of 61 questions she asked in Lok Sabha till recently were focused on the Adani Group.

In a signed affidavit, Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy eponymous group, who allegedly paid her to raise questions in Parliament, said the TMC leader targeted Gautam Adani to "malign and embarrass" Modi whose impeccable reputation gave the opposition no opportunity to attack him. PTI KR SKU SMN