SC to hear Mahua Moitra's plea against Lok Sabha expulsion today

The Supreme Court is set to hear TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s petition against her expulsion from the Lok Sabha on Friday, December 15.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhatti will hear the matter, LiveLaw reported.

She was ousted from the Parliament as the MP from Krishnanagar constituency in West Bengal 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.

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 had come 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.

(With DHNS inputs)