Cash for Query row: Mahua Moitra appears before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, cross-examination begins

Mahua Moitra, a member of the Trinamool Congress, gave her deposition to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on Thursday in relation to the ‘Cash for Query’ charge that has been brought against her. Sources claim that after Mahua Moitra made a statement, the Committee will now question her again. According to sources, there were disagreements among committee members regarding the Trinamool MP’s statement. Based on the purported evidence provided by the complainants, BJP MP Nishkant Dubey and Advocate Jai Dehadrai, Moitra will now be cross-examined.

The committee led by BJP MP Vinod Sonkar and comprising MPs V Vaithilingam, Danish Ali, Sunita Duggal, Aparajita Sarangi, Parneet Kaur, Swami Sumedhanand and Rajdeep Roy began their deposition at the committee room this morning.
Earlier on November 2, Mahua Moitra had in a letter to the ethics panel requested for a summons date after November 5 citing pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashmi programmes. The panel, however, asked her to appear before it today.

Nishikant Dubey, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has accused Moitra of accepting bribes from Hiranandani, a businessman based in Dubai, in exchange for Moitra raising questions in Parliament about the Adani Group. In a letter titled “Re-emergence of nasty ‘Cash for Query’ in Parliament,” Dubey also asked that the issue be looked into. It was addressed to Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha. In addition, he said that he had received evidence of purported bribes from Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. On October 26, the complainant in the case, BJP MP and Supreme Court advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, made an appearance before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee to present oral evidence supporting their claims.