New Delhi: The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha has summoned Mahua Moitra on November 2, to depose before it in connection with the cash-for-query scandal. Responding to the Trinamool Congress MP’s submission that she won’t be able to appear before the panel until November 5, it said it would entertain no request for extension in the date of appearance.
“The undersigned is directed to refer to your letter dated 27 October, 2023, on the above mentioned subject/reference and to state that Honourable Chairperson, Committee on Ethics has acceded to your request for extension of date for appearing before the Committee on Ethics, i.e, rescheduling the sitting of the Committee. It has, accordingly, been decided to hear you in the above matter, in person, on 2 November, 2023 at 1100 hours in Committee Room 2, Parliament House Annexe Extension, New Delhi,” the panel’s notification reads.
The panel added that given the “seriousness of the matter”, further request for extension of date would not be entertained.
“The chairperson has also directed the undersigned to convey you that keeping in view the seriousness of the matter, having implications on the dignity of Parliament as well as its Members, any further request for extension of date for appearing before the Committee, which is, rescheduling the sitting of the Committee for any reason whatsoever would not be entertained,” it added.
The panel initially summoned her on October 31, to record oral evidence over BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s allegations that she had accepted money and gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani in return for posting questions in Parliament. Dubey had lodged an official complaint with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, citing ‘evidence’ furnished by her estranged friend Jai Anant Dehadrai.
Both Dubey and Dehadrai deposed before the panel on Friday.
In response to the notice, Moitra expressed her inability to meet the panel on October 31, citing prior commitments.
“I represent the state of West Bengal where Durga Puja is the biggest festival. I am already committed to attending numerous pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashami Sammelans/meetings (both government and political) in my constituency from 30th October to 4th November 2023 and cannot be in Delhi on 31st October 2023,” Mahua Moitra wrote.
Moitra on Friday told a television channel in an interview that she gave her Parliament website’s login credentials to Darshan Hiranandani. She claimed there was no rule barring her from sharing her login details with others.
“But then an OTP comes and it comes to my phone only. It does not go to Darshan’s phone. Only when I provide the OTP, the questions are submitted,” Mahua Moitra told India Today.
“The NIC login has no rules as to who can have the login or not. Every single MP’s questions are given to their large teams. You are saying I have given it to a foreign entity. Darshan Hiranandani is a friend, and an Indian citizen. His passport has been made public. I myself have logged in from Switzerland. My sister’s child also logged in from Cambridge when I was there on vacation and she typed in my questions when I told her I had a deadline. If NIC’s question-and-answer portal is so very protected, then why don’t you block IP addresses from entering it? Darshan Hiranandani does not need me to ask questions. Every question is RTI-able. Where is the quid, where is the quo?” Mahua Moitra said.
Also read: Mahua Moitra says Hiranandani has her Parliament login, ‘Jharkhandi pitbull can’t end me’
Elaborating on why Darshan Hiranandani had her login credentials, she said she asked the businessman to provide some assistants from his office to type in the questions.
“The charge that somebody can put in a question is ludicrous because the OTP comes to my mobile number. Every question is written by me and I am one of those who does their work. That’s why there are only 61 questions,” Mahua Moitra said.
She said the businessman was her friend and she only received a scarf and some makeup items that he had picked from Dubai airport’s duty-free shop.
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