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Lok Sabha expels Moitra in cash-for-queries row

Dec 09, 2023 05:30 AM IST

Moitra has, however, only been disqualified from this term of the Lok Sabha. She can contest the 2024 elections and if she wins, come back to the Lower House.

New Delhi Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Mahua Moitra, a first-time member who rose to prominence with her combative speeches in the House, was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday over her “direct involvement” in cash-for-query charges and “unethical” conduct — the first time in nearly two decades that a member has been removed from Parliament on similar allegations.

TMC leader Mahua Moitra after being expelled by the Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament. (PTI)
TMC leader Mahua Moitra after being expelled by the Lok Sabha during the winter session of Parliament. (PTI)

The Lok Sabha expelled Moitra with a voice vote after the Opposition walked out, adopting an ethics committee report that recommended her expulsion for sharing her login credentials and password with an unauthorised person, its impact on national security, and accepting gifts and possibly cash as a “quid pro quo” from businessman Darshan Hiranandani.

“I have time and again tried to maintain the standards of the house, for which I have had to take harsh decisions as well, but only for the sake of the dignity of the house. And this is why today too, whatever we are discussing, the dignity and prestige of the house must remain paramount,” speaker Om Birla said.

“I always try not to suspend or take action against any member. I always try to ensure that each member gets enough time and opportunity.”

The debate became a rallying point for the Opposition, which flagged loopholes in the ethics committee report, questioned the process of disqualification, and walked out before the motion to remove Moitra was put to vote.

After a heated debate that lasted 30 minutes, parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion to expel the first-time member for “unethical conduct”, which was adopted by a voice vote.

“Moitra’s conduct has been found to be unbecoming as MP for accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest which is a serious misdemeanour and highly deplorable conduct,” said the motion moved by Joshi.

He urged the House to accept the recommendation and finding of the committee and “resolve that continuance of Mahua Moitra as member of Lok Sabha is untenable and she may be expelled from the membership of the Lok Sabha”.

This is the second cash-for-query case in Parliament in two decades. A sting operation by online site Cobrapost on December 12, 2005, had showed 11 MPs accepting cash in exchange for raising questions in the Parliament. On December 24, 2005, Parliament voted to expel the 11 MPs — 10 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha.

To be sure, Moitra has only been disqualified from this term of the Lok Sabha. She can contest the 2024 elections and if she wins, come back to the Lower House.

Dressed in a traditional Bengali white and red saree, Moitra compared the proceedings to a kangaroo court and said the parliamentary committee was “weaponised”.

“The ethics committee has to serve as a moral compass for MPs. Instead, it has been abused egregiously today to do exactly what it was never meant to do: to bulldoze the Opposition and become another weapon to ‘thok do’ (hammer) us into submission,” she said.

“The committee’s findings are based only on the written testimonies of two private citizens (Hiranandani and lawyer Jay Anant Dehadrai) whose versions contradict each other in material terms and none of whom I was allowed to cross-examine,” said the lawmaker from Krishnanagar in West Bengal.

Her party and the broader Opposition backed her, inside and outside Parliament. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other senior Opposition leaders stood with Moitra in a show of solidarity outside Parliament.

“The party fully supports Mahua Moitra. Today the BJP has betrayed democracy and democratic rights. They did not allow Mahua to explain her own stand. Without justice, you have done injustice,” West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Moitra found herself embroiled in the row after BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey wrote to Birla in September on the basis of a complaint by lawyer Dehradai, who alleged Moitra accepted money and favours to ask questions in Parliament. Moitra denied the charges that she received gifts, and asked other parliamentarians if they never shared their passwords.

The complaint was referred to the ethics panel, which held two meetings on September 26 and October 2. Dubey and Dehadrai, the two complainants, deposed in the first meeting. Moitra deposed in the second meeting but walked out of it during her cross-examination, accusing chairman Vinod Sonkar of asking “filthy and personal questions.” Sonkar later alleged that Moitra used anger to deflect legitimate questions, and used unparliamentary language against the panel and the chair.

On November 9, the Lok Sabha ethics committee adopted the report by a margin of 6-4.

The report noted that 50 out of the 61 questions asked by Moitra in Parliament sought information “with the intent of protecting or perpetuating business interests” of Hiranandani, with whom the password and login details were shared, and his company.

“Moitra had deliberately shared her Lok Sabha login credentials with Darshan Hiranandani, a business tycoon, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates…Smt Mahua Moitra is guilty of unethical conduct, breach of her privileges available to members of Parliament and contempt of the House,” the panel concluded.

“The serious misdemeanours on the part of Mahua Moitra calls for severe punishment. The committee, therefore, recommends that Mahua Moitra, MP, may be expelled from the membership of the 17th Lok Sabha,” the report added.

The panel also asked for an “intense, legal, institutional inquiry” by the Centre in a time-bound manner of the “money trail” of cash transactions between Moitra and Hiranandani.

In the brief debate over the ethics panel report, Opposition members repeatedly pressed for more time to read the report, said that Moitra should be allowed to speak in the House, and raised concerns that the principles of natural justice were being flouted.

Sitting in the House, Moitra listened to the entire debate that sealed her fate as a member of this Lok Sabha. Ignoring repeated requests by Opposition MPs, Birla didn’t allow her to speak, citing the precedent set by late speaker Somnath Chatterjee in 2005 when 10 Lower House members were disqualified over similar, cash-for-query charges.

Congress floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury pointed out that the 495-page report was circulated at noon.

“As a custodian, I hope the speaker will take the right decision. It’s not humanly possible to study this report in two hours. Give us 3-4 days. As this will become a precedent, its (process) needs to be faultless.”

Congress leader Manish Tewari argued that the procedure of the ethics committee could not override the principle of natural justice. “The person who has levelled the allegations, should have been cross-examined. Also, the ethics committee doesn’t have the right to say what punishment should be given. The report is fundamentally flawed.”

He also objected to the BJP’s three-line whip for its MPs, “Can a party direct MPs to vote in a particular direction in this matter? This whip needs to be withdrawn.”

Tewari cited Article 105 and argued that no MP could be held liable before any court for his or her actions inside Parliament to question and asked, “Can this House override the Constitution?”

A one-line whip informs party MPs about an upcoming voting. A two-line whip demands that the MP be present while a three-line whip makes it mandatory for an MP to vote in favour of the party line.

TMC’s floor leader Sudip Bandopadhyay called for Moitra to speak, “My party’s spokesperson will be Mahua Moitra herself because allegations are against her. Wild allegations have been made. Whether the allegations are true or not, let them be explained by her,” he said.

But Joshi objected to this and referred to the 2005 case. “Somnath Chatterjee had said the MPs had appeared before the enquiry panel that discussed in detail and came out with its report. Therefore, now the MPs have no right to speak in the House.”

Birla maintained he can’t set a new precedent in the House and underlined that rulings by former speakers become a part of the precedent.

TMC member Kalyan Banerjee argued that a fair trial could have happened only if the affected person was heard, and that the Constitution and the House rules didn’t permit the expulsion of any member. But the speaker disagreed. “I am not a big lawyer like you but I run the House according to the rules,” Birla said.

The BJP fielded two women members — Hina Gavit and Aparajita Sarangi — to counter the charges.

“Hiranandani’s business interests are in telecom, shipping, real estate and pipelines. Moitra posted 50 questions in this sector. The MPs’ portal was logged in from Dubai 47 times. Our image has taken a hit. Now, people will think, if anyone gives money, an MP will aggressively speak and shout on his behalf,” Gavit said.

Sarangi, a member of the ethics panel, said, “Moitra was given enough opportunity to defend herself. Instead, she misbehaved and walked out of the panel meeting.”

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