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Lokpal asks HC for more time to revisit sanction to prosecute MP
Lokpal has moved the Delhi High Court seeking two more months to decide afresh on whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could file a charge sheet against TMC lawmaker Mahua Moitra, in the cash-for-query case
The anti corruption ombudsman of the government, Lokpal has moved the Delhi High Court seeking two more months to decide afresh on whether the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could file a charge sheet against TMC lawmaker Mahua Moitra, in the cash-for-query case.
The high court, in its order dated December 19, set aside the Lokpal’s earlier November 12 decision granting sanction, holding that the procedure adopted by the ombudsman was not in keeping with the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 (Act) and was wholly alien to the scheme of the statute. The court consequently directed Lokpal to reconsider the issue of sanction afresh in accordance with the provisions of the Act and to take a decision within one month.
Although the application was listed on Monday before a division bench of justices Vivek Chaudhary and Renu Bhatnagar, the bench directed that it be placed before the original bench that passed the order, observing that granting an extension of time would effectively amount to modifying the earlier directions.
The December 19 order was passed by a bench of justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar.
“The application is filed for extension of time, which amounts to modification. Let the same be listed, after orders from the chief justice. List on 23rd January,” the court said in its order.
In its application, Lokpal said it was closed for the winter holidays in the intervening period and needed more time.
Moitra is accused of giving access to her official MP ID to Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani to post questions on the Lok Sabha portal on her behalf in return for expensive gifts from the businessman. While Hiranandani has corroborated the charges, Moitra has denied the allegation that she received gifts. She has also claimed that it was common practice for lawmakers to share their passwords with people in their office.
In October 2023, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla based on a complaint by lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai that claimed Moitra had accepted money and favours to ask questions in Parliament. The same month, Dubey approached Lokpal over the “cash-for-query” charge against Moitra.
In March last year, the Lokpal ordered CBI to file an FIR against Moitra saying there was “sufficient prima facie evidence on record that deserved deeper scrutiny.” It directed the federal agency to complete investigations into “all aspects of the allegations” against Moitra within six months. CBI submitted its report to Lokpal.
At the time of the allegation Moitra was the sitting MP from Krishnanagar , but was expelled from the House in December 2023, based on a recommendation by the ethics committee. She then defeated her rival, the BJP’s Amrita Roy, in the 2024 general elections, and retained her seat in the 18th Lok Sabha.
