Mahua Moitra violated IT rules by sharing parliamentary login details: Nishikant Dubey
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New Delhi: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Sunday continued to target Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra amid the ongoing ‘cash-for-query’ row, citing the IT Act to assert that Moitra’s sharing her parliamentary login details with Dubai-based industrialist Darshan Hiranandani was a strong violation of the IT rules, which is punishable with a jail term of up to 3 years.
"Saw and read many interviews of Mahua. According to Rule 43 of IT Act 2000, information about computers, data, systems or passwords can be given to the glorified secretary or his employees with the permission of the owner of the system. Who is the owner of the system here... Lok Sabha Speaker or NIC, did you ask, if not then apart from playing with national security, there is also three years jail for corruption. For information, this property belongs to Parliament, if we are not a parliamentarian, then it has to be deposited," the BJP MP from Godda said in a post on X.
Mahua is a member of Parliament's IT standing committee. All MPs are provided official email by the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha secretariat and they are regularly advised against sharing their passwords.
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The ‘E-mail Policy of Government of India’ released in 2014 said that a user is responsible for “any data/e-mail that is transmitted using the GoI e-mail system” and added that “sharing of passwords is prohibited”.
“The policy further states all access codes, including user ID passwords, network passwords, PINs etc. shall not be shared with anyone, including personal assistants or secretaries. These shall be treated as sensitive, confidential information,”, says the policy statement.
Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai are the complainants against Mahua in the cash-for-query case. The Parliament ethics committee has summoned her on November 2 with a condition that a request for further deferment would not be entertained.
Mahua had expressed an inability to be present on the given date and had sought another date after November 5.
In media interviews, Mahua had admitted that she had shared her mail ID and password with Hiranandani to post Parliament questions on her behalf.
She had also said that she had taken a few gifts like scarfs and beauty products from Hiranandani but not cash, a claim made by the complainants and corroborated by Hiranandani in the affidavit sent by him to the committee and government agencies.
Hiranandani in the signed affidavit said that he gifted Moitra “expensive luxury items”, underwriting the “renovation of her official” bungalow; and posting “questions directly on her behalf” using the Parliament login and password that she provided him.
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Dubey, however, has also shared a copy of the bill claiming to have been paid by Hiranandani for Moitra's stay in a luxury hotel.
"My topic is national security and corruption, which is being looked into by the parliamentary committee, but according to the interview, Mahua did not take any favour from Hiranandani. This is the bill for her hotel, which Hiranandani gave in 2018 when she was a member of the Bengal Assembly. The committee will take the accounts after 2019," Dubey said in the post, with which he also shared a copy of the bill.
“For people giving goodwill to the MP who is playing with national security, the Government of India’s Policy 2014 for Mail I’d, portal, intranet, clearly says that you cannot share your password with anyone. This is a bigger issue than the cash for questions of 2005. Support us in the interest of the country, not the opposition”, he added.
Mahua has urged the panel to let her cross-examine Hiranandani. She has also rejected the allegations against her.
“First BJP said ‘Cash for Questions’. That failed since NO evidence to back the fake allegation. Now it is ‘National Security’, she posted on X on Saturday.
