Ethics panel suggests expulsion of Mahua

The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha has submitted its preliminary report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla proposing the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra in the ‘cash for query’ case. Reliable sources gave this information to The Daily Guardian on Friday.

As it is known that the Ethics Committee had investigated the allegations against Mahua Moitra and had prepared a 500-page report. In this report, the Ethics Committee has termed Mahua Moitra’s conduct as “highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal”. Before adopting this report, the committee had also conducted voting on the report. According to committee chairman Vinod Sonkar, this report received a majority of 6:4.
While submitting the report, the committee has recommended to the Lok Sabha Speaker that Mahua Moitra should be expelled from the 17th Lok Sabha.

The draft report on Mahua Moitra’s cash-for-questions case has revealed her four trips to the UAE between 2019 and 2023, sources told TDG. His login was accessed multiple times during this trip. “On 47 occasions, its member portal login credentials were accessed from Dubai,” the Ethics Committee’s draft report said.

The ethics committee had sought a detailed report from the Ministry of Information Technology (IT) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding IP addresses and locations. Additionally, the Committee requested MHA’s inputs on the risks associated with sharing login credentials, emphasizing the legal consequences under the Section IT Act 2000.

The draft report reportedly suggested that “Mahua Moitra’s grave misdeeds require stringent punishment.” It recommended expulsion of Mahua Moitra from the membership of the Seventeenth Lok Sabha due to her “highly objectionable, immoral, heinous and criminal conduct”. The Committee proposes a thorough, legal, institutional investigation by the Government of India in a time bound manner.

The report said that Mahua Moitra has accepted cash and amenities, gifts from Dubai-based business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani for raising questions in Parliament. His unethical conduct also amounts to contempt of the House.