THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Dec 11: Mahua Moitra, a leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), has taken her case to the Supreme Court following her removal as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha due to her involvement in the ‘cash-for-query’ scandal.
Moitra said that it was “illegal” for them to have expelled her.
After the House adopted the Ethics Committee’s report, which found Moitra guilty of taking gifts and illicit gratuity from businessman Darshan Hiranandani in order to pursue his interests, Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8. The leader of the TMC has strongly refuted the accusations.
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Ethics Committee broke every rule
Following her expulsion, Moitra condemned the ethics panel for making decisions without sufficient evidence, asserting that it was turning into a tool to suppress the Opposition. She accused the Ethics Committee and its report of violating established rules.
“This LS has also seen the weaponisation of the Parliamentary committee. Ironically the Ethics Committee which was set up to serve as a moral compass for members, instead it has been abused egregiously today to do exactly what it was never meant to do, which is to bulldoze the opposition and become another weapon to ‘thok do’ (crush) us into submission,” she stated.
“I am 49 years old and for the next 30 years, I will fight you inside the Parliament and outside; in the gutter and on the streets…We will see the end of you…This is the beginning of your end…We’re going to come back and we’re going to see the end of you,” she added.
The TMC leader, who served as the representative for the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal, expressed that she was not given an opportunity to present her defence in the House when the ethics panel’s report was under consideration.
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Not allowed to cross-examine
Following the Lok Sabha’s adoption of the motion to remove the TMC MP, the opposition staged a walkout.
She further mentioned she was not allowed to cross-examine her estranged partner, Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, both of whom accused her of involvement in the ‘cash-for-query’ scandal.
“None of whom I was allowed to cross-examine. One of the two private citizens is my estranged partner, who with malafide intention, masqueraded as a common citizen in front of the committee. The two testimonies have been used to hang me there at polar opposites to each other,” Moitra stated.
