New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra has approached the apex court on Monday challenging her expulsion from Lok Sabha in the cash-for-query case.
The 49-year-old has long been in the vortex of a controversy after being accused of having taken bribes from a businessman to ask questions in the Parliament.
She allegedly received ₹ 2 crore in cash and ‘luxury gift items’ from businessman Darshan Hiranandani, according to NDTV.
More important, she was accused of making available log-in details of her account on the parliamentary website to Hiranandani to post those questions directly.
Moitra, an acerbic critic of Modi government, denied charges against her while reportedly admitting to having shared the log-in details.
Subsequently, the Ethics Committee report said: ‘allegations of accepting illegal gratification (are) clearly established and are undeniable", and that "taking gifts from (a) businessman to whom she handed over log-in (details) amounts to a quid pro quo...’, adding that it was ‘unbecoming of an MP and is unethical conduct.’
The tabling of the report led to tempestuous arguments between ruling and Opposition in the parliament, before the voice vote and later Speaker Om Birla announced the House as accepting the conclusions of the Committee.
‘This House accepts the conclusions of the Committee - that MP Mahua Moitra's conduct was immoral and indecent. So, it is not appropriate for her to continue as an MP...’ Om Birla reportedly said.
Moitra later reportedly said: ‘The Lok Sabha has presided over the most tenacious witch-hunt of one of the 78 MPs, a first-timer, a single woman, with no political lineage... This Lok Sabha has also seen the weaponisation of a parliamentary committee.’