New Delhi: The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha has asked Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra to appear before it on October 31 in connection with the cash-for-query allegations against her. After a meeting of the panel on Thursday, its head and BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar also said they will seek assistance from the Ministries of Home Affairs and IT in probing the allegations against the TMC MP.
The panel recorded statements of lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and BJP leader Nishikant Dubey in connection with the matter. In his complaint to Speaker Om Birla, BJP member Dubey has cited documents shared by Dehadrai to back his cash-for-query allegations against Moitra.
Birla had referred the matter to the Ethics Committee.
Moitra has been at the centre of a political storm after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused the Lok Sabha member from Krishnanagar in West Bengal of taking bribes from a businessman to ask questions in Parliament.
The fiery TMC member dismissed the charges as a "jilted ex's lies", a reference to Dehadrai, and accused the Adani Group of being behind them to target her as she has been relentless in raising questions on the conglomerate's practices and transactions.
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, who allegedly paid Moitra to raise questions in Parliament about Adani Group, on Thursday in a signed affidavit said the TMC leader targeted Gautam Adani to "malign and embrass" Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable reputation gave opposition no opportunity to attack him. In an affidavit, the Dubai-based businessman claimed he used Moitra's Parliament login to post questions.
