Table of Contents
Introduction
TMC MP Mahua Moitra is facing allegations of misconduct in parliament. BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey has accused Ms. Moitra of asking questions in parliament in exchange for bribes. Ms. Moitra has denied the allegations and has said that she is ready to face any kind of inquiry. The parliamentary ethics committee has started hearing the case. If implicated, the act could be considered a breach of privilege and contempt of the House.
Ms. Moitra has filed a defamation suit against Mr. Dubey and several media houses and social media intermediaries
Mahua Moitra
Mahua Moitra is a Member of Parliament from Trinamool Congress in the 17th Lok Sabha from Krishnanagar (Lok Sabha constituency), West Bengal. She has a background in Economics and Finance and is very vocal in the Parliament. She has held member positions in several committees such as the Standing Committee on Health & Family Welfare, the Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Joint Committee on Personal Data Protection.
Allegations against Mahua Moitra
On October 15, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla alleging that Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra took bribes for raising questions in Parliament to “protect the interest of a business group”. He urged the Speaker to set up a committee to probe the allegations and sought her suspension from the House till the panel submitted its report.
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In his letter, Dubey alleged that he had received documents from an advocate, Jai Anant Dehadrai, who, he claimed, “shared irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged” between the TMC MP and a businessman “to ask question(s) in Parliament
Dubey mentioned Moitra had till recently asked “approximately 50 questions in Parliament, out of total 61 posted by her, which sought information with the intent of protecting business interests of a company”. He alleged that “it is nothing but a re-emergence of cash for query” by Moitra.
On October 27, Moitra admitted she gave her Parliament login and password details to her friend and businessman Darshan Hiranandani but denied taking any cash from him, as alleged by Dehadrai in his complaint to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
In an interview to The Indian Express in the backdrop of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee examining cash-for-query charges against her, Moitra said, “No MP types her/his own question. I have given him (Darshan) the password and login for someone in his office to type it (the questions) down and upload.”
To upload a question, an OTP (one-time password) is required, she said, “My phone number is given (for the OTP)… There is no question of Darshan or anyone putting it without my knowledge.”