Cash-for-query row: ED files money laundering case against Mahua Moitra, Darshan Hiranandani

TMC leader Mahua Moitra

The Enforcement Directorate on April 2 filed a money laundering case against TMC leader Mahua Moitra and Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani in the cash-for-query row, reported news agency ANI quoting sources. The case has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) 2002.

The ED case was registered two to three days ago. Moitra and Hiranandani have been under investigation by the ED under the civil sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). They have been summoned for questioning, but they have not appeared yet, citing official engagements.

Additionally, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against Moitra and Hiranandani on the directives of Lokpal, who instructed the agency to submit its report within six months. Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha last December for "unethical conduct" and has challenged her expulsion in the Supreme Court.

The Lokpal issued these directives to the CBI after receiving the findings of its preliminary inquiry into allegations made by BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey against Moitra. Dubey alleges that Moitra received cash and gifts from Hiranandani in exchange for asking questions in the Lok Sabha to criticise industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.

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Moitra, known for her outspokenness and fiery debates in the Lok Sabha, was expelled from the Lower House in December last year after a parliamentary Ethics Committee's report held her accountable for accepting gifts and illegal gratification.

The former investment banker with JP Morgan Chase, who had dubbed the expulsion recommendation by the Ethics committee as a ''prefixed match by a kangaroo court'', claimed the BJP has been trying to destroy democracy in the country.

Moitra, who was re-nominated by the TMC from the same Krishnanagar seat after being expelled last year, accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of acting as ''political agents of the saffron camp''.

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