The Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee is set to convene on November 7 to consider and adopt its draft report concerning the 'cash-for-query' allegations involving TMC MP Mahua Moitra and BJP's Nishikant Dubey.
This meeting marks the conclusion of the committee's investigation, chaired by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar, and will result in its recommendations. The committee's members had previously divided along party lines during their November 2 meeting.
With BJP members holding a majority in the 15-member committee, a stern stance toward Moitra's conduct is anticipated. This is further exacerbated by Moitra's claim that Sonkar posed inappropriate and personal questions during the last meeting, which he refuted.
Opposition members echoed Moitra's sentiments, leading to their walkout from the November 2 gathering. Nishikant Dubey has alleged that Moitra received bribes to pose questions in Lok Sabha targeting the Adani Group at the request of businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
He contended that Hiranandani used Moitra's login credentials to submit questions from various locations, predominantly Dubai. Moitra admitted to sharing her login details but denied any financial inducements, arguing that many MPs share their login information with others.
What is Cash-for-Query?
The "cash for queries" controversy revolves around allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Dubey claimed to possess "irrefutable evidence of bribes" being exchanged between TMC MP Mahua Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of the Hiranandani Group, a real estate conglomerate.
According to Dubey's letter, out of the 61 questions raised by Moitra in Parliament, 50 were directed at billionaire Gautam Adani and his Adani Group. The Adani Group has frequently been a target of the Trinamool Congress, to which Moitra belongs.
Dubey asserted in his letter, "There is not an iota of doubt about a criminal conspiracy hatched by Mahua Moitra to garner and protect the business interests of a businessman—Darshan Hiranandani—by asking Parliamentary questions, which is reminiscent of the 'Cash for Query' episode of December 12, 2005."
Also read | Mahua Moitra writes to Lok Sabha Speaker, says 'proverbial vastraharan' at Ethics panel meet
