Ethics Panel Asks Mahua Moitra To Appear On Nov 2; ‘No Further Date Change’

New Delhi: Mahua Moitra had turned down the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee’s summons to appear before it on October 31 in connection with the cash-for-query scandal.

The Trinamool Congress MP had written that she won’t be able to appear before the panel until November 5 because of ‘pre-committed programmes’ in her constituency Krishnanagar.

On Saturday, the Ethics Committee asserted itself by issuing a fresh summons to Mahua on November 2, stating that no further request for extension of date will be entertained.

“The undersigned is directed to refer to your letter dated 27 October, 2023, on the above mentioned subject/reference and to state that Honourable Chairperson, Committee on Ethics has acceded to your request for extension of date for appearing before the Committee on Ethics, i.e, rescheduling the sitting of the Committee. It has, accordingly, been decided to hear you in the above matter, in person, on 2 November, 2023 at 1100 hours in Committee Room 2, Parliament House Annexe Extension, New Delhi,” the panel’s notification stated.

“The chairperson has also directed the undersigned to convey you that keeping in view the seriousness of the matter, having implications on the dignity of Parliament as well as its Members, any further request for extension of date for appearing before the Committee, which is, rescheduling the sitting of the Committee for any reason whatsoever would not be entertained,” the notice added.

Mahua has been summoned to record oral evidence over BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s allegation that she had accepted money and gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani in return for posting questions in Parliament.

Dubey lodged a complaint with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, citing ‘evidence’ furnished by Delhi-based lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, Mahua’s estranged friend.

Dubey and Dehadrai both deposed before the panel on October 27.

Mahua told a TV channel that she did give her Parliament website’s login credentials to Hiranandani as there’s no rule barring her from sharing those with others.

She also said Hiranandani was her friend and the only gifts she received were a scarf and some makeup items that he had purchased from Dubai airport’s duty-free shop.