The Lok Sabha received a report from the Ethics Committee on TMC MP Mahua Moitra; the House was adjourned until 2:00 PM.
December 8, New Delhi, India: The chair of the Ethics Committee, BJP MP Vijay Sonkar, presented the report on TMC MP Mahua Moitra to the Lok Sabha on Friday.
In the Lower House, Rajendra Agarwal was presiding over the meeting. Opponents led by Trinamool Congress members chanted ‘Modi Sarkar Haye Haye’ and held placards criticizing the central government.
Amid the ruckus created by the opposition, the House was adjourned till 2 PM.
The report was mentioned in the agenda of the list of business of Lok Sabha for the opening day of the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. However, it could not be taken up.
Earlier before the commencement of the session, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said that now the people will see the battle of Mahabharata.
Speaking to the media, Mahua said “Mother Durga has arrived, we will see. These people who have started snatching clothes will now see the battle of Mahabharata.”
Mahua Moitra is facing the heat of the “cash-for-query” allegations against her. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee recently recommended her expulsion from the Lower House.
The draft report was adopted by a 6:4 majority in the panel last month.
As per the sources, the draft report on Mahua Moitra’s cash-for-questions case reveals that she visited the UAE four times from 2019 to 2023 while her login was accessed several times.”On 47 occasions, her member portal login credentials were accessed from Dubai,” sources said citing the draft report of the ethics committee.
Reacting to the oppositon demands to hold debates and discussions on the Ethics Panel report which is being tabled in Lok Sabha today, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday asked why the opposition has already decided on what action the Lok Sabha Speaker would take against TMC Mahua Moitra in the alleged “cash-for-query” case.
“Whether it will be discussed or not, who will speak on it – all of this will be decided by the Speaker. That is what the rules say. So how will the Speaker act on this issue, why are we anticipating that? The Constitution is clear on this issue. Whatever will happen in the House is the prerogative of the Speaker. If the party nominates my name on the issue and the Speaker goes against this, then I won’t be able to speak. Let it be done first (tabling of report), I will answer all the questions after that,” Nishikant Dubey told reporters.
The Ethics Committee, which investigated the allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, adopted its 500-page report on November 9 recommending Moitra’s expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha in view of her “highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct.”
On November 2, Moitra appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee regarding the accusations of receiving cash in exchange for a question. She had “walked out” of the meeting with the panelists who were in opposition. Members of the opposition who served on the Ethics Committee questioned the line of questioning and claimed that the MP for the Trinamool Congress was asked “personal questions”.
Mahua Moitra, a Trinamool Lok Sabha MP, had earlier on November 10 claimed that the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, which was looking into her involvement in the “Cash for Query” case, was acting in a manner akin to a “Kangaroo” court.
