Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra – expelled from the Lok Sabha today – accused the parliamentary ethics committee that looked into cash-for-query allegations against her of “breaking every rule”.

“The committee broke every rule… Tomorrow, the CBI will be sent to my home to harass me,” Ms Moitra told reporters outside parliament today.

The ethics committee submitted the report in parliament today after weeks of cross-examining all the people involved in the matter, including the complainants lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and BJP leader Nishikant Dubey.

Ms Mahua was not allowed to speak on the matter in parliament today, which drew protest from some Opposition leaders who said she should be allowed to present her view too.

“… The Lok Sabha has presided over the most tenacious witch-hunt of one of the 78 MPs, a first-timer, a single woman, with no political lineage… This Lok Sabha has also seen the weaponisation of a parliamentary committee,” Ms Moitra told reporters today.

“Ironically, the ethics committee which was set up to serve as a moral compass for members, instead has been abused today to do exactly what it was never meant to do – which is to bulldoze the Opposition and become another weapon to thok do us into submission. This committee and the report have broken every rule in the book,” the visibly furious Trinamool Congress MP, flanked by Opposition MPs, told reporters on the steps outside parliament.

The ethics committee doesn’t see Ms Moitra’s allegations that she was not allowed to speak today as a valid one. She had walked out during her cross-examination, calling the committee’s questioning “filthy”.

Any question of her not being allowed to speak today doesn’t arise as she was given an opportunity to present her views at the committee’s meeting. It was up to her whether she waned to speak or not at the committee meeting held on November 2, but she can’t later claim she has not been given an opportunity to speak – this appears to be the committee’s reasoning.

Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha today following an Ethics Committee report held her guilty of taking bribes in exchange for criticising the government.

The 49-year-old MP faces accusations of receiving cash and luxurious gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for posing questions in Parliament that painted the Narendra Modi government in a negative light.

Timeline Of The ‘Cash For Query’ Case:

How It Began

On October 14, Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and forwarded a copy to the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, seeking to address alleged corruption and money laundering.

Ms Moitra denied all allegations against her, dismissing Mr Dehadrai as a “jilted ex.” In response, Mr Dehadrai wrote to the Delhi Police, claiming he feared “a very serious threat to his life” due to his complaint and alleging a direct attempt to coerce him into retracting it.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey requested the immediate suspension of Ms Moitra in a letter to Mr Birla. Mr Dubey alleged that Ms Moitra had accepted bribes from Mr Hiranandani in exchange for asking parliamentary questions critical of PM Modi and the Adani Group. These actions, according to Mr Dubey, constituted breaches of parliamentary privilege, contempt of the House, and potentially criminal conspiracy.

Mr Dubey’s complaint triggered a hearing by the Ethics Panel of Parliament, summoning both him and Mr Dehadrai. 

Darshan Hiranandani’s Explosive Claims

Mr Hiranandani, meanwhile, submitted an affidavit alleging Ms Moitra shared her parliamentary credentials with him to facilitate the framing and posting of questions targeting the Adani Group, a measure she perceived as the “only way” to reach PM Modi. He admitted that he used the Trinamool MP’s parliamentary login ID and password to post questions from Dubai.

Ms Moitra conceded to sharing her parliamentary login credentials with Mr Hiranandani. While acknowledging a receipt of gifts from him, she clarified that they were limited to personal items like “one scarf, some lipsticks, and other makeup items including eye shadow.” Ms Moitra, however, denied any bribery and demanded the opportunity to cross-examine the businessman.

Mahua Moitra’s Defiance 

Ms Moitra defied the Ethics Committee’s initial summons to appear on October 31. She explained her stance, stating that the Committee chairman had publicly announced her summons on live television before she received the official notification via email at 7:20 pm.

She further highlighted the media’s access to all complaints and affidavits before her, labeling it a “selective leak of a plea bargain.” She characterized the proceedings as a “witch hunt” targeting any politician who dared to question the Adani Group.

Mahua Moitra Walks Out

On November 2, Ms Moitra agreed to appear before the Ethics Committee but staged a walked out.

In a scathing letter to the Speaker, she accused the panel of engaging in “proverbial vastraharan (stripping),” highlighting her belief that their questioning was biased and unfair.

The Ethics Committee countered Ms Moitra’s claims, stating that her lack of cooperation and refusal to answer further questions led to her premature departure. 

Ethics Panel Report Submitted To Speaker

On November 10, the Ethics Committee submitted its report to the Speaker, recommending Ms Moitra’s expulsion. The report accused her of accepting “illegal gratifications” from Mr Hiranandani in exchange for raising questions in Parliament on his behalf.

Six out of ten members of the Ethics Committee voted to adopt the 479-page report. The remaining four members, belonging to opposition parties, registered dissent.

Report Tabled In Parliament 

On December 8, the Ethics Committee report was tabled in parliament. The panel’s chairman Vinod Kumar Sonkar tabled the report during the afternoon session, prompting immediate chaos in the House.

Trinamool Congress and Congress members stormed the Well of the House, demanding access to the report and a discussion before any action was taken. Kalyan Banerjee, a senior TMC member, further insisted on a debate before any vote on Ms Moitra’s expulsion.

Amid the uproar, the presiding officer, BJP’s Rajendra Agrawal, adjourned the proceedings till 2 pm, unable to contain the commotion.

Mahua Moitra Expelled

Following the tabling of the report, Ms Moitra was expelled. Despite a heated debate and demands from Ms Moitra and opposition members for her to speak, she was not given the opportunity to defend herself before the vote. 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion for her expulsion based on “unethical conduct”, which was subsequently adopted by a voice vote. 

“Unaccounted” cash amounting to around Rs 250 crore is expected to be recovered through searches being conducted by the income-tax department against a Odisha-based distillery group and entities linked to it, official sources said on Friday.

The raids launched against Boudh Distillery Private Limited on Wednesday are still continuing and cash amounting to more than Rs 200 crore has so far been recovered. The total recovery could be around Rs 250 crore, the sources said.

Three dozen counting machines have been deployed by the tax department. Since the machines are of a limited capacity, the counting is progressing at a slow pace, the sources added.

Premises linked to the Congress’s Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, were also covered during the searches, the sources said.

An e-mail sent by PTI to the distillery group on Thursday elicited no response.

Officials said cash amounting to Rs 200 crore, stashed in almirahs, was recovered from a premises of the distillery group in Balangir district, while the remaining amount was found from other locations, such as Sambalpur and Sundargarh in Odisha, Bokaro and Ranchi in Jharkhand and Kolkata.

In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tagged a news report about the I-T department recovering Rs 200 crore in cash from various locations of a business group allegedly linked to Sahu, as he attacked the opposition party.

“Countrymen should look at these piles of currency notes and then hear the addresses of its (Congress) leaders on honesty. Every penny looted from people will have to be returned. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said in a post with several emojis.

Mr Sahu’s staff expressed their inability to get a comment from the MP when PTI called on his phone for a reaction to the I-T department’s action.

The sources said the taxman acted on “inputs” of a huge amount of cash being remitted by liquor distributors, sellers and business groups and hence, the raids were launched. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)