Supreme Court defers Mahua Moitra's plea against expulsion to January 3

SC defers the hearing of Mahua Moitra's plea

The Supreme Court on December 15 deferred to January 3, the hearing of expelled Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's plea against her expulsion.

The case was adjourned as Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who lead the bench informed the lawyers that he received the files of the case and hence could not go through the papers to satisfaction.

Moitra was expelled on December 8 from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.

Moitra alleged that a parliamentary panel was being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission. She told reporters that she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.

The Ethics Committee report found Moitra guilty of "unethical conduct" and contempt of the House by sharing her Lok Sabha credentials -- User ID and Password of Lok Sabha Member's Portal, with unauthorised persons which had an irrepressible impact on national security, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said.

The Supreme Court on December 15 deferred to January 3 the hearing of a plea filled by Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra against her expulsion from the Lok Sabha for alleged misconduct in a “cash for query” case.

The case was adjourned after Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who is leading the bench hearing the plea, informed the lawyers that he received the files of the case late and could not go through them to his satisfaction.

The court will break for winter from December 16 to January 2.

Moitra, who represented West Bengal’s Krishnanagar  in the Lok Sabha, was expelled on December 8 after the House adopted the report of its ethics committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and possibly cash from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament that furthered his interest.

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

The ethics committee report found Moitra guilty of unethical conduct and contempt of the House by sharing her credentials — user ID and password of Lok Sabha member's portal with unauthorised persons, which had an irrepressible impact on national security, parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi had said.

Moitra found herself in trouble when on October 15, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, saying an inquiry committee should look into accusations made against the TMC leader by a Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehradai.

In his complaint, Dehradai alleged that Moitra accepted money and favours to ask questions in Parliament.

Dubey also demanded her immediate suspension from the House, alleging that "bribes were exchanged between businessman Darshan Hiranandani and her to ask questions in Parliament in exchange for cash and gifts".

Dubey and Moitra have been involved in a long-running tussle, with the TMC leader questioning the BJP MP's educational qualifications.

Hiranandani statement

On October 19, in a statement shared with media, Hiranandani admitted using Moitra’s parliamentary login credentials to ask questions after state-owned Indian Oil Corporation booked capacity at the Adani's Gujarat-based Dhamra LNG import facility in Odisha and not at his firm’s planned unit.

Defamation suit

Moitra filed a defamation suit against Dubey and Dehadrai after they alleged that she took cash and gifts from Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament about the Adani group to malign Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah.