Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct 27: One day after the Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee issued a summons for Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra to appear on October 31, she has requested an extension. The committee has called on Mahua Moitra to address allegations related to the ‘Cash-for-Query’ scandal.
Today, Mahua Moitra stated that Vinod Sonkar, the Chairman of the Parliament Ethics Committee, publicly disclosed her summons date on live television well before the official letter was sent to her via email. She also mentioned that, due to previously planned constituency commitments, she is requesting additional time to attend the committee’s proceedings.
“Chairman, Ethics Committee announced my 31/10 summons on live TV way before an official letter emailed to me at 19:20 hrs. All complaints and suo moto affidavits were also released to the media. I look forward to deposing immediately after my pre-scheduled constituency programmes end on November 4,” Moitra posted on X.
Chairman, Ethics Comm announced my 31/10 summons on live TV way before official letter emailed to me at 19:20 hrs. All complaints & suo moto affidavits also released to media. I look forward to deposing immediately after my pre- scheduled constituency programmes end on Nov 4. pic.twitter.com/ARgWeSQiHJ
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 27, 2023
Additionally, the TMC MP requested more time to appear before the Ethics Committee in a letter written to the committee’s chairman.
“I represent the state of West Bengal where Durga Puja is the biggest festival. I am already committed to attending numerous pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashami Sammelans/meetings (both government and political) in my constituency from October 30 to November 4, 2023, and cannot be in Delhi on October 31, 2023,” Moitra said in the letter.
“Therefore, I request to be given time to appear in person before the committee at any date and time of the Committee’s choice after November 5, 2023,” she added.
In addition, Moitra cited the case of BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who was called before the Privileges Committee of the Lok Sabha on October 10 but was later allowed to make an appearance at a later time upon his request.
“As a recent example, Ramesh Biduri, MP who was summoned by the Privileges Committee on October 10, 2023, requested more time since he had pre-fixed political meetings in Rajasthan and was accorded a similar courtesy by this same branch,” she said.
On Thursday, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai, who were the first to accuse the TMC MP of involvement in the ‘Cash-for-Query’ scandal, appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee to provide oral testimony regarding their accusations.
“I told the truth before the committee. All members of the committee went about the process of asking questions in a cordial manner. I gave honest answers to all the questions that were put to me,” Advocate Dehadrai said.
“I will give all the information that the Committee asks me to provide. I will appear before the committee whenever it asks me to. I will submit all the documents, the truth is in the documents,” BJP MP Nishikant Dubey stated.
The committee, headed by Sonkar, who is a BJP MP, consists of members including Vishnu Datt Sharma, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Aparajita Sarangi, Rajdeep Roy, Sunita Duggal, and Subhash Bhamre from the BJP; Ve Vaithilingam, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Preneet Kaur from the Congress; Balashowry Vallabbhaneni (YSRCP); Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena); Giridhari Yadav (JD-U); P R Natarajan (CPI-M); and Kunwar Danish Ali (BSP).
