The Lok Sabha's ethics committee on Saturday turned down Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's request to call her after November 5 while allowing a two-day extension, as the panel asked her to appear before it for 'oral evidence' on November 2 in relation to the allegations against her.
The Lokpal directive came while deciding a complaint by BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey alleging that Moitra had asked questions in the Lower House of Parliament in exchange for cash and gifts from Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled on Friday from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.
Moitra said she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.
Moitra was heard using an objectionable word to which the Chair objected and urged members to avoid cuss words.
Mahua asserted that despite all efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party to "sound the death knell" for constitutional democracy, India is too great a country to be destroyed by the fascists.
She has already challenged her expulsion in the Supreme Court after the Lok Sabha adopted the report of its ethics committee recommending her ouster. The case is listed for hearing on January 3, 2024.
Moitra on Tuesday stirred a controversy with her remarks that she has every right as "an individual to imagine Goddess Kaali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess", as every person has the right to worship god and goddess in his or her own way.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has written to the ethics committee of the Lok Sabha stating that she cannot appear before it on October 31 in connection with the allegations against her due to prior engagements and will be available only after November 5.
The TMC leader, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 last year, was earlier asked to vacate the house by January 7 after her allotment was cancelled.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday stirred a controversy by saying that she has every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess, as every person has the right to worship god and goddess in his or her own way.
It would be a privilege indeed if a breach of privilege motion is initiated against me for speaking the truth during India's darkest hour, Moitra had tweeted on Tuesday.
Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar's son Baidyanath Ghosh Dastidar has sent a legal notice to former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and several TMC leaders, including Mahua Moitra, Kalyan Banerjee, Sougata Roy and Sonali Guha, denying allegations that he had sought a party ticket from the Barasat Assembly Constituency.
Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court against two ordinances brought out by the Centre under which the tenure of directors of the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate can now be extended by up to three years after the mandated term of two years.
The senior counsel appearing for the former MP claimed she was being "hounded", and information on issuance of summons to her by the agency was published by the media even before she received it.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday said she will appear before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on November 2 in the cash-for-query case, but asserted that she should be allowed to cross-examine businessman Darshan Hiranandani, from whom she is accused of taking bribes to ask questions in Parliament.
In the letter to Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava, she said the station house officer of Barakhamba Road police station had come to meet her at her residence on February 12 and shortly "thereafter, around three Border Security Force personnel armed with assault rifles had been deputed outside her house."
Participating in a debate on the bill in Lok Sabha, Moitra said women's reservation is dependent on two totally "indeterminate dates" and asked, "can there be a greater jumla".
Moitra brought two birthday caps in the House to press her argument that the businessman being most talked about had "topi-pehnau-ed" the government.
"The TMC wants to defeat BJP and will do whatever necessary. We want to ensure that BJP does not win or form a government through the backdoor," Moitra said when asked about a possible pre-poll alliance with the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Congress.
'It disappoints and saddens me no end that Mahua has allowed herself to be carried away by the Goebbelsian onslaught mounted on the BJP and Narendra Modi by certain vested interests which find themselves exposed and thrown out of the gravy train,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Sources said the committee is also expected to underline its unhappiness at the conduct of some opposition members during its proceedings and make a mention of it in its recommendations to the House.
'I apologise for the mean, hurtful, accurate things I said... My meme editing skills are improving,'
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has accused the Opposition of setting pre-conditions for a debate on the critical NEET paper leak issue, stating that the government is ready for a comprehensive discussion.
Moitra's counsel mentioned the matter for urgent listing before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde.
According to sources, Preneet Kaur, a Congress MP, is believed to have voted in support of the report.
Politicians and celebrities lined up at polling stations to cast their votes.
She also took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party over its defeat in the just-concluded Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, saying the ruling party's president could not hold on to his home state. "Who is the Pappu now?" she asked.
The TMC MP also said the UAPA bill seeks to designate individuals as terrorists without due process. She was also of the view that this bill also takes away the powers of the state and also called it anti-federal, anti-constitutional and anti-people.
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
Government sources have clarified that a passport has never been considered proof of citizenship in India, a stance consistent for the past 12 years and rooted in the Passport Act 1967. This clarification, reiterated by the Ministry of External Affairs, has drawn criticism from opposition leaders and public figures.
"Features of the Bill are anti-people and anti-Constitution...it is a very dangerous act," the fiery TMC MP said.
An all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of Parliament's Monsoon Session on Sunday saw the entire opposition staging a symbolic walkout over the invitation to rebel Trinamool Congress MPs and a demand for a discussion on the issues of Ram temple donation 'theft', NEET paper leak and mixing of ethanol in petrol.
Parliament proceedings were stalled for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday as loud protests by an unrelenting opposition over the NEET paper leak and demand for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation reverberated in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, leading to adjournment of the two Houses for the day without transacting any business.
Amidst the INDIA bloc conclave in Delhi, a significant number of Trinamool Congress MPs convened a closed-door meeting, signalling a deepening internal rebellion and discontent within the party's parliamentary ranks following recent electoral setbacks.
Rebel Trinamool Congress MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Sunday said two more parliamentarians were set to join the dissident group, which would take its strength in the Lok Sabha to 22.
'Oral evidence of Dr Nishikant Dubey, MP, in respect of complaint dated 15 October, 2023 given by him against Smt Mahua Moitra, MP...,' the subject of the Lok Sabha secretariat communication to him read.
The Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee will hold its first meeting on Thursday on the allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, with Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian and the complainant Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai scheduled to record their statements.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee has formally petitioned Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to disqualify 20 rebel MPs, arguing their claimed merger with the lesser-known Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) is invalid under the anti-defection law.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has referred BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's complaint against Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra to the Ethics Committee of the lower House.
