Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has issued a detailed response to the affidavit by businessman Darshan Hiranandani in the 'cash for query' case against her. She alleged that the Prime Minister's Office forced him to sign a white paper that "was leaked to the press".
Moitra also expressed scepticism about the credibility of Darshan Hiranandani's affidavit, noting that it is on a "white piece of paper with no letterhead and there is no official origin aside from a press leak".
“The affidavit is on white paper and not on official letterhead or notarised. Why would one of India's most respected/ educated businessman sign a letter like this on white paper unless a gun was put to his head to do it?” the Lok Sabha member said in a statement.
Calling the content of the letter a “joke”, Moitra further claimed that the affidavit was drafted by “some half-wit in the PMO who doubles up as a creative writer in the BJP's IT cell”.
Moitra alleged that the "PMO held a proverbial gun" to Darshan and his father's "heads and gave them 20 minutes to sign the letter sent to them". "They were threatened with a total shutdown of all their businesses," she alleged.
"Darshan Hiranandani has not been summoned by the CBI or the Ethics Committee or indeed by any investigative agency yet. Who then has he given this affidavit to?" she asked in her press release.
Moitra's response came after Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, on Thursday said the TMC leader targeted Gautam Adani to "malign and embarrass" Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable reputation gave opposition no opportunity to attack him.
In a signed affidavit, Hiranandani admitted to using Moitra's Parliamentary login to ask questions targeting Adani after state-owned behemoth Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) booked capacity at the Gujarat-based conglomerate's Dhamra LNG import facility in Odisha and not at his firm's planned facility, PTI reported.
Moitra, he claimed, "made frequent demands" including "expensive luxury items, providing support on renovation of her officially allotted bungalow in Delhi, travel expenses, holidays, etc, apart from providing secretarial and logistical help for her travels within India and to different parts of the world."
The firebrand MP was "fed unverified information about Gautam Adani and his companies" by several lawyers and Indian journalists, the affidavit alleged.
"Ms Moitra, in her endeavour, was getting help from other people like Sucheta Dalal, Shardul Shroff, and Pallavi Shroff, who were also in touch with her, and who were feeding her with all kinds of unverified information relating to Gautam Adani and his companies," the affidavit
However, both Pallavi and Shardul Shroff have denied the allegations and said they were shocked to read about it.
"As lawyers, we wish to point out that these statements are not made on oath nor verified before an Oath Commissioner by him and the allegations made against both me and my wife Pallavi, are complete falsehoods. Such statements which are not made in the presence of an oath Commissioner or Notary have no legal validity or sanction as evidence. They cannot be admitted as evidence and we suspect that Mr Hiranandani knows that."
"We are not Mrs Moitra’s advisers or informants as is the undertext of Mr Hiranandani’s unrebutted allegation and what he seems to suggest against us. We are sure his untruths will fall apart when he is cross examined," they added.
Journalist Suchet Dalal, too, denied being personally associated with Moitra and sought the government's help to "prevent this kind of slander by some crooks".
The affidavit came days after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and Moitra's estranged partner and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai alleged the Moitra took favours from Hiranandani to raise questions in Parliament. She responded by filing a defamation suit before the Delhi High Court against them.
Meanwhile, Dubey's complaint has been referred by the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Parliament's Ethics Committee.