TMC's Mahua Moitra moves SC against Parliament expulsion
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra on Monday moved the Supreme Court against her expulsion from the Parliament. She was removed from the Lok Sabha on Friday after the Ethics Committee found her guilty in the "cash-for-query" case. Moitra had argued the panel had no power to expel her while adding it was the beginning of the end for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Cash-for-query scam and Ethics Committee probe
The cash-for-query row was triggered nearly two months ago after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey complained to Lok Sabha Speaker On Birla. He said Moitra took bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in the Parliament targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group. Moitra was investigated by the Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee, which, in its report, recommended her expulsion from the House.
Moitra moves SC against her Lok Sabha expulsion
Panel says sharing login credentials with unauthorized persons 'unethical'
Earlier, Moitra admitted she shared Parliamentary login credentials with Hiranandani, claiming claimed was a common practice among the MPs. However, she denied all bribery charges. Reportedly, the Lok Sabha ethics panel report underscored that "taking gifts from businessman to whom she handed over log-in details amounts to a quid pro quo (tradeoff)." It was "unbecoming of an MP and is unethical conduct," it added.
Adani issue will not be forgotten: Moitra
Meanwhile, Moitra said her Ethics Committee-recommended expulsion was the decision of a "kangaroo court." "The recommendation of expulsion was solely based on the complaint that I shared my login. But there is no rule whatsoever in this regard," Moitra said. "If the Modi government hopes that by shutting me up, it can forget the Adani issue, then it is mistaken," the TMC leader added.
Mamata Banerjee says BJP killing democracy in India
The panel's 500-page report, tabled in Lok Sabha on Friday, triggered a massive row between the opposition and BJP. Meanwhile, TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dubbed Moitra's expulsion as "unacceptable" and said that the "vendetta politics" of the BJP sabotaged democracy in India. She had also accused the saffron party of plotting the expulsion of its most fierce critics.
Shashi Tharoor, Sonia Gandhi back Moitra
Backing Moitra, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor earlier remarked she would likely be back with a bigger mandate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Notably, in a show of opposition unity, senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi stood behind Moitra as she read out a statement post-expulsion outside the Parliament on Friday. Moitra wasn't allowed inside the Lok Sabha amid the winter session on Friday.
