A day after the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee issued summons to TMC MP Mahua Moitra to be present in Delhi on October 31, she said Friday that she can only depose before the panel after her pre-scheduled constituency programmes end on November 4. She said that due to Durga Puja celebrations in her home state of West Bengal, she has already committed to events and meetings.
Amid the ongoing controversy around the cash-for-query allegations against her, Moitra also claimed that the summons notice, complaints and affidavits were released to the media even before the official letter was emailed to her.
“Chairman, Ethics Comm announced my 31/10 summons on live TV way before official letter emailed to me at 19:20 hrs. All complaints & suo moto affidavits also released to media. I look forward to deposing immediately after my pre- scheduled constituency programmes end on Nov 4,” she said in a tweet on social media platform X.
Chairman, Ethics Comm announced my 31/10 summons on live TV way before official letter emailed to me at 19:20 hrs. All complaints & suo moto affidavits also released to media. I look forward to deposing immediately after my pre- scheduled constituency programmes end on Nov 4. pic.twitter.com/ARgWeSQiHJ
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 27, 2023
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Further in a letter addressed to Committee chairman Vinod Sonkar, she said that the Committee summoning and hearing the statements of complainants BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai before hers, the “alleged accused”, was “against the natural order of justice”.
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The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, which began examining Thursday (Oct 26) the cash-for-query allegations against Moitra, heard Dubey and Dehadrai for over two hours.
Committee chairman and BJP MP Vinod Sonkar later told reporters that Moitra had been asked to appear before the panel on October 31.
He said the committee also decided to write to the Ministry of Information Technology and Ministry of Home Affairs to share with it all communication and conversations between Moitra, industrialist Darshan Hiranandani and Dehadrai. This decision was taken by the committee after hearing the oral evidence offered by Dehadrai and Dubey Thursday afternoon.
