Supreme Court to hear Mahua Moitra’s challenge to expulsion as MP today

Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra’s challenge to her expulsion from parliament will be heard by the Supreme Court on Friday. A Supreme Court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SV Bhatti will hear Moitra’s request to restore her Lok Sabha membership. She has accused the parliamentary ethics committee that looked into cash-for-query allegations against her and recommended her expulsion of “breaking every rule”. The ethics committee submitted the report in parliament on December 8 after weeks of cross-examining all the people involved in the matter, including the complainants lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and BJP leader Nishikant Dubey. She 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,” Moitra told reporters outside parliament. The Trinamool Congress leader has called Dehadrai, who filed the complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), her “jilted ex”. Following the complaint, Dubey had led the call to investigate the allegation that Moitra gave her parliament login ID to businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Trinamool leader was accused of taking bribes, including Rs 2 crore in cash and “luxury gift items”, from Darshan Hiranandani, in exchange for asking questions critical of the government in parliament. Moitra has, however, denied charges she accepted bribes from Hiranandani, who claimed she asked for various favours, including luxury gifts, in return for asking certain questions.