'Serious Misdemeanours Call for Severe Punishment': What Ethics Panel Report Said About Mahua Moitra

Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra committed “serious misdemeanours” by accepting gifts like “luxury items” and a car, which calls for “severe punishment”: this is what the report of the Lok Sabha ethics committee said about the first-time MP, who is now expelled from Parliament.

The parliamentary panel’s report was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday by chairperson Vinod Kumar Sonkar, triggering a row between the ruling BJP and the opposition. The lower house was even adjourned till noon as opposition MPs created an uproar over the listing of the ethics panel report.

But, all in vain.

Once the session resumed, however, the Lok Sabha took up the report for discussion and put forward the motion recommending Moitra’s expulsion even though the opposition sought more time to study the 495-page document. The motion was passed and the TMC leader expelled, leading to a walkout by the opposition.

The allegations against Moitra in the cash-for-query row were that she took bribes, including Rs 2 crore in cash, from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions critical of the Narendra Modi government in Parliament.

Here is all you need to know about what the report said:

1. According to a report published by NDTV, the ethics committee quoted from Hiranandani’s statement: “… demands that were made, and favours that were asked, included gifting her expensive luxury items, providing support on renovation of her officially allotted bungalow in Delhi, travel expenses, holidays…”
2. The ethics report noted that “allegations of accepting illegal gratification (are) clearly established and are undeniable”, as quoted by NDTV. It declares “taking gifts from (a) businessman to whom she handed over log-in (details) amounts to a quid pro quo… (which is) unbecoming of an MP and is unethical conduct”.
3. The ethics committee, therefore, “recommend(s) that Smt Mahua Moitra, MP, may be expelled from the membership of the Seventeenth Lok Sabha”. It also called for “a legal institutional inquiry by the Government… in view of unethical, heinous, and criminal conduct of Smt Moitra…”
4. Moitra’s actions have been referred to central agencies with the technical expertise to probe the “money trail”, with the committee recommending a “time-bound” inquiry.
5. About Moitra accepting cash as part of the bribes, the ethics panel was quoted as saying, “… (we) wish to candidly point out that (we) do not have the technical wherewithal and expertise to criminally investigate and unearth the ‘money trail’, which is the task of the central government…”

Moitra, who has repeatedly denied the allegations, said the ethics committee has decided to “hang” her without getting to the root of the matter. As the opposition, including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, stood behind her, she told reporters: “…it (Lok Sabha ethics committee) refused to summon the businessman to testify that there is evidence of any cash or any gifts.”

She added: “There are no rules whatsoever to share the logins. This kangaroo court has shown to India what process you have used. I know they will harass me for the next six months. You detest nari shakti. We will see the end of you, don’t worry. The ethics committee had no power to expel me.”

Moitra and her supporters have also pointed out that no cash has been, so far, recovered in this matter. There is, though, a CBI inquiry that is now underway.

(With PTI inputs)