The parliamentary ethics committee will release its findings on the cash-for-query accusations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the Lok Sabha today. The committee is expected to recommend that Ms. Moitra be expelled from parliament. The report will be put to a vote, with the Opposition likely to call for a division. The BJP has already instructed its MPs to remain in the house. Six members of the ethics committee supported the report, while four Opposition members submitted dissent notes, claiming that the report was biased. Ms. Moitra and other Opposition MPs had walked out of the ethics committee meeting on November 2, alleging misconduct. The committee responded by stating that she had failed to cooperate and had left to avoid further questioning.
Ms. Moitra has referred to Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, who filed the complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), as her “jilted ex.” Mr. Dehadrai’s complaint prompted the call for an investigation into allegations that Ms. Moitra provided her parliamentary login ID to businessman Darshan Hiranandani in order to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Ms. Moitra has denied the cash-for-query accusations, she did admit to giving her parliamentary login ID to Mr. Hiranandani.
The ethics committee has reached out to the Information Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry to investigate the alleged misuse of Ms. Moitra’s parliamentary login ID and password.
