Mahua Moitra appears before ethics panel in cash-for-query charge
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New Delhi:n Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra, who is at the centre of a bribe-for-query row, appeared before the Ethics Committee of the lower house on Thursday.
The Committee is probing BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey's bribe-for-query allegations against Moitra. Details of the proceedings are yet to emerge.
Dubey has accused Moitra of asking questions, which were keyed in through her parliamentary account, at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in return for bribes and favours from the Dubai-based scion of a well-known business family.
Moitra has admitted that she shared her log-in credentials with Hiranandani, whom she has described as a close friend for a long time, but has ruled out any pecuniary motive and asserted that the questions were always hers. She has also argued to the effect that such authorised use of login credentials is common among members as a delegation of work.
The Trinamool Congress MP has claimed that the Adani Group is behind the "bogus" charges due to her strident criticism of the business conglomerate.
Mahua earlier was asked to appear on October 31, but she sought to defer the fixture to any date after November 4, as she had pre-scheduled programs in her constituency. Subsequently when she was asked to appear on November 2, she confirmed her attendance.
Moitra in her public reactions to the move against her, has stated that the ethics committee has no jurisdiction to examine the charges levelled against her, that as per known precedents of parliamentary committees she should have been given the first opportunity to explain her stand and that she should now be allowed to cross-examine those who raised the charges.
(With inputs from PTI)