Mahua Moitra cash-for-questions row: Lok Sabha's Ethics panel to write to MEA to authenticate Darshan Hiranandani's sworn affidavit

Cash-for-query case: Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee will write to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to authenticate businessman Darshan Hiranandani's 'sworn affidavit', so that it can be produced as a legal document and can be read as his statement in the ongoing cash-for-query row against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra.

On Thursday, the Ethics Committee said that Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra will be summoned on October 31 for further questioning in the case after BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey and Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, who the Trinamool MP called her "jilted ex", appeared before the panel and recorded their statements.

There is very little chance that Hiranandani will be called by the ethics panel for questioning. Following Moitra's statement, the panel could proceed to recommend its action in the matter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

"The two people who were summoned today - the lawyer and Nishikant Dubey - were heard attentively. After that, it was decided that Mahua Moitra would be called on 31st October. She will come and present her part. The committee has also decided that IT Ministry and MHA will be sent letters to make her details available," Vinod Sonkar, Chairman of Parliament Ethics Committee, said on Thursday.

Sonkar also said that the panel has sent letters to the Information Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry seeking details on key aspects of the case for a deeper investigation.

Hiranandani is the CEO of the real-estate conglomerate Hiranandani Group, who claimed that Moitra gave him her Parliament login details to raise questions about the Adani Group, in an attempt to target PM Narendra Modi.

Hiranandani, a resident of Dubai, has issued a “sworn affidavit” saying Moitra gave him her Parliament login and password so he could post questions on her behalf.

"Mahua Moitra wanted to quickly make a name for herself at the national level. She was advised by her friends and advisors that the shortest possible route to fame is by personally attacking PM Narendra Modi," Hiranandani alleged in the affidavit.

"Moitra thought that the only way to attack PM Modi is by attacking Gautam Adani as both were contemporaries and belong to the same state of Gujarat," the affidavit further said.

India Today reported that the ethics panel will also approach the Home Ministry to map the TMC MP's overseas trips in the past five years. The Parliament panel might ask the ministry to rule out if all due procedures such as informing Lok Sabha and other clearances were taken by Moitra or not.

The matter surfaced after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and accused Moitra of taking bribes to ask questions in Parliament. Dubey's complaint was based on a letter written by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai.

Dehadrai's letter, which Dubey has cited in his complaint, mentions "irrefutable evidence of bribes" exchanged between Moitra and Hiranandani. Furthermore, it has been alleged that 50 of the 61 questions that Moitra asked in Parliament until recently were with the intent of "protecting or perpetuating business interests" of Hiranandani and his conglomerate.

On her part, Moitra has dismissed all allegations against her and lashed out at Dubey and Dehadrai with "fake degree MP" and "jilted ex" comments. She claimed that Hiranandani was forced by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to write the letter.

She also said that she would welcome the probe into the row by the Lok Sabha Speaker after he (Birla) dealt with alleged breaches of privileges by other BJP legislators.

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Also read: Cash-for-questions row: Lok Sabha ethics panel summons Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra on Oct 31 for questioning