On Wednesday, the Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai to appear before it for "oral evidence" on October 26 in connection with the former's "cash for query" allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.
"Oral evidence of Dr Nishikant Dubey, MP, in respect of complaint dated 15 October, 2023 given by him against Smt. Mahua Moitra, MP for alleged direct involvement in cash for query in Parliament," the subject of the Lok Sabha secretariat communication to Dubey reads, according to a PTI report.
The letter sent by a secretariat official said, "I am directed to state that the Committee on Ethics has decided to hear you in the above matter, in person, on Thursday, 26 October, 2023..."
Cash for query allegation against Mahua Moitra: All you need to know
1. Nishikant Dubey has accused Mahua Moitra of taking "bribes" from a businessman to ask questions in Parliament and urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to constitute an "inquiry committee" to look into the charges against her.
2. Moitra has hit back, saying she will welcome any motion once the pending breach of privilege motions against ruling party members are dealth with. "Multiple breach of privileges pending against fake degreewala & other @BJP4India luminaries. Welcome any motions against me right after Speaker finishes dealing with those. Also waiting for @dir_ed & others to file FIR in Adani coal scam before coming to my doorstep," she wrote on X.
3. Dubey, in his letter to the speaker, said 50 of 61 questions that Moitra asked in Lok Sabha till recently were focused on the Adani Group, the business conglomerate which the TMC MP has often accused of malpractices, more so after it was at the receiving end of a critical report of short-selling from Hindenburg.
4. Dubey accused the TMC MP of taking bribes for raising questions in Parliament to protect the interest of a business group and claimed that advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai had "shared irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged" between Moitra and Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of the real-estate conglomerate Hiranandani Group.
5. Meanwhile, the Hiranandani Group dismissed the allegations, with its spokesperson saying that the conglomerate has always worked with the government in the interest of the nation and will continue doing so.
6. "Am using all my ill gotten cash and gifts to buy a college/university in which Degree Dubey can finally buy a real degree. Please Om Birla finish the enquiries against him for false affidavits and then set up my enquiry committee," Moitra wrote on X.
7. On Tuesday, she approached the Delhi High Court seeking to restrain Dubey, Dehadrai and several social media platforms and media houses from posting, circulating or publishing any alleged fake and defamatory content against her.
8. A spokesperson for the Adani Group issued a statement on Monday, shedding light on grave allegations made by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai. "The development corroborates our statement on 9 October, 2023 that some groups and individuals have been working overtime to harm our name, goodwill and market standing. In this particular case, a lawyer's complaint reveals that this arrangement to besmirch the reputation and interests of the Adani Group and our chairman Gautam Adani has been in place since 2018," the Adani Group spokesperson said.
9. TMC sources have dismissed the charges against Moitra, saying advocate Dehadrai, who filed the complaint against Moitra, was her former partner, and claimed that it was a personal vendetta, PTI reported. They said there was an ongoing tussle between the two over their pet dog and Moitra has filed multiple police complaints against him in the last six months for alleged criminal trespass, theft, vulgar messages and abuse.
10. Dubey also took a dig at Moitra in a post on X, saying: “Had heard about the war of Mahabharata for Draupadi, but experiencing a political earthquake over (a dog) is happening in the country for the first time.”
(With PTI inputs)
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