Mahua Moitra May Lose Parliament Membership If Authenticity Of Letter Proved
Mahua Moitra is likely to lose her membership in the Parliament and may also get arrested for accepting bribes under corruption charges if the letter written by businessman Darshan Hiranandani turns out to be authentic, legal experts said.
The TMC MP Moitra was already the scanner in the Parliament for indulging in 'cash for query' scam. Late in the evening on Thursday, a sworn affidavit by businessman Darshan Hiranandani went viral in the news and social media. In the affidavit, Hiranandani accepted that he paid bribes in the form of expensive luxury gifts to Moitra to ask questions in the Parliament on his behalf against businessman Gautam Adani. In fact, it is alleged that Moitra gave her Parliament login credentials to Hiranandani and others, which is illegal. If the letter of Hiranandani is proved to be authentic and the business comes forward to accept that he has filed such an affidavit, it could spell trouble for Moitra, legal experts say.
Meanwhile, the TMC MP has expressed scepticism about the legitimacy of Hiranandani's letter due to the lack of official letterhead and notarization. She has also approached the Delhi High Court seeking to restrain Dubey, Dehadrai and several social media platforms and media houses from posting, circulating or publishing any alleged fake and defamatory content against her.
"Three days ago (16.10.2023), the Hiranandani Group put out an official press release stating that all charges leveled against them were baseless. Today (19.10.2023) an "approver affidavit" has been leaked to the press. This "affidavit" is on a white piece of paper with no letterhead and there is no official origin aside from a press leak," Moitra has said.
India's Parliament gives its members freedom to ask any questions without attracting any adversity. But Moitra can be suspended from the Parliament if the Lok Sabha Speaker felt that there was enough material to show that the MP had indulged in corruption using her Parliamentary privileges. A breach of privilege is an infringement of any of the privileges of MPs or Parliament.
If a further police or a CBI probe is ordered against Motitra by the government after she loses her Parliament membership, she can be arrested and remanded to police custody for further investigations, legal experts said.
Earlier this week, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai had alleged that Moitra took bribes to ask questions in the Parliament against businessman Gautam Adani, who is perceived to be close to PM Narendra Modi since both are from the same state of Gujarat.
A Parliamentary committee is looking into Dubey’s allegation and has summoned him to make oral submissions. After the probe panel submits its report, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will take a view on Moitra's membership, sources said.
