Mahua Moitra withdraws HC plea against order to vacate government accommodation

Mahua Moitra withdraws plea challenging order asking her to vacate official residence

Expelled Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra on January 4 withdrew a plea filed in the Delhi High Court against an order asking the Trinamool Congress leader to move out of the house allotted to her as an MP.

Moitra's lawyer told the court that she would seek the directorate of estates’ permission to continue to stay in the house till the Lok Sabha elections due in April-May in 2024. The directorate of estates is responsible for alloting houses to MPs.

On January 3, the Supreme Court asked the secretary general of Lok Sabha to respond to Moitra’s plea, challenging her expulsion from the Lok Sabha.

The court has asked the secretary general to file a response to Moitra's plea in three weeks. The case will likely be heard in March. The court said the petition raised several significant issues but it would restrain from expressing opinions on the merits of the case.

Moitra moved the High Court on being asked to vacate her accommodation by January 7. On December 19 hearing, the government asked the court to defer the hearing, saying Moitra had challenged her expulsion in the Supreme Court and the plea would be heard on January 3.

Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 after the House adopted the report of its ethics committee that found her guilty of "unethical conduct" for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the Parliament website with him.

She alleged that the parliamentary panel was being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission. She was found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that didn’t exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gifts given to her, Moitra told media.