Mahua Moitra moves SC challenging her expulsion from Lok Sabha

On Dec 8, the Lok Sabha expelled Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra over 'cash-for-query' allegations, after the report of the Ethics Committee recommended the same.

New Delhi: TMC leader Mahua Moitra on Monday approached the Supreme Court against her expulsion from the Lok Sabha in the 'cash for query' corruption case.

She was ousted from the Parliament as an MP after the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha found her guilty of jeopardising national security by sharing her parliamentary portal's login credentials with businessman Darshan Hiranandani.

Her plea termed the decision as "unjust, unfair and arbitrary" and against the principle of natural justice.

Moitra was accused of posing several queries in Parliament concerning the Adani group of companies at the behest of a rival businessman Hiranandani.

On December 8, the Lok Sabha passed a resolution to expel Moitra from Parliament in view of the Ethics Committee recommending her disqualification as an MP.

Her expulsion was recommended by the committee on the basis of Hiranandani's affidavit saying she accepted bribes, including expensive gifts to ask his questions targeting the Adani Group.

The development came on a complaint by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on the basis of an affidavit by Moitra's past friend advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai.

In a sharp reaction to her expulsion, Moitra equated the action with hanging by a "kangaroo court". She alleged that a parliamentary panel was being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission.

Mahua claimed she had 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.