Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Sunday (October 22) said that the party would await the probe by the parliamentary ethics committee on allegations against Mahua Moitra since she has clarified her stand on the matter.
Citing documents by lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had alleged that Moitra accepted favours from businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for raising questions in Parliament. Moitra, in response, filed a defamation suit against them before the Delhi High Court.
The BJP MP’s complaint was referred to Parliament's Ethics Committee by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. However, the TMC has attempted to distance itself from the controversy that has hit a senior leader and a prominent voice of the party in the Parliament.
TMC MP Derek O'Brien reacts
Rajya Sabha MP O'Brien said that the party leadership asked Moitra to clarify her position and she has already done that.
“The member concerned has been advised by the party leadership to clarify her position regarding the allegations levelled against her. She has already done that,” he said.
"However, since the matter has to do with an elected MP, her rights and privileges, let the matter be investigated by the right forum of Parliament, after which the party leadership will take an appropriate decision," he added.
Hiranandani’s affidavit
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, who allegedly paid bribes to Mahua Moitra to ask questions in the Parliament about the Adani Group, recently claimed in an affidavit that the TMC MP targeted Adani to "malign and embarrass Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable reputation gave opposition no opportunity to attack him".
Chairman of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee Vinod Sonkar earlier said that he had received the affidavit from Hiranandani.
Moitra in turn raised questions over the credibility of the affidavit and alleged that it was “drafted by the PMO”.
(With PTI inputs)
ALSO READ | Mahua alleges Darshan Hiranandani's affidavit ‘drafted by PMO’, claims he was forced to sign letter
ALSO READ | Mahua Moitra’s parliamentary login ID used in Dubai when she was in India, alleges Nishikant Dubey
