Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and ex-Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra faced a setback in her plea challenging the cancellation of her government-allotted bungalow after the Delhi High Court adjourned the hearing to January 4 next year.
On Tuesday, Justice Subramonium Prasad postponed the issue to January 4, citing that the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Mahua Moitra’s appeal against her expulsion from Lok Sabha on January 3. The judge also declined to issue a notice to the Director of Estates in response to Moitra’s plea, asking her to wait till the apex court’s hearing.
Moitra had moved the Delhi High Court yesterday challenging the Union government’s order to evict her government-allotted bungalow in the wake of her recent expulsion from the lower house.
In her petition, Moitra mentioned that her appeal against expulsion is currently awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court and sought directions from the Delhi HC to the relevant authorities for her relief. It is to be noted that Moitra challenged the December 11 order issued by the Directorate of Estates to cancel her government accommodation. She was directed to vacate her govt accommodation by January 7, 2024.
The TMC leader pleaded to the HC to issue directions that would allow her to continue to reside at her current residence till the results of the 2024 general elections are declared.
The 49-year-old was expelled from the Lok Sabha on December 8 based on the recommendations of the Ethics Committee which found her guilty of receiving cash and gifts for asking questions in Parliament at the behest of business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani.
The Ethics panel also held her guilty of compromising national security by sharing her Parliament login ID and password with unauthorized persons. The committee also called for an “intense, legal, institutional inquiry” by the central government in a “time-bound manner.”
The House expelled Moitra after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion which was adopted by a voice vote. Moitra had described her expulsion as a decision of a kangaroo court.
With her party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee throwing her weight behind, Moitra had vowed to fight the BJP inside the Parliament and outside, “in the gutter and on the streets to see its end.” She also received support from several opposition leaders including senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi after her expulsion from Parliament.
The cash-for-query controversy emerged in October when BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, acting on a complaint from Moitra’s former partner and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, accused her of posing questions in Parliament in return for cash and gifts from Darshan Hiranandani.
Later, Hiranandani had claimed in a signed affidavit that the TMC MP from Krishnanagar raised questions in Parliament about the Adani Group to “malign and embarrass” Prime Minister Modi.
Following her expulsion, Moitra had asserted that Dehadrai’s complainant was made with a mala fide intention and accused him of “masquerading” as a common citizen before the ethics panel. She said the testimonies of Dehadrai and Hiranandani were polar opposites and had been used to “hang” her.
“The findings are based solely on the written testimonies of two private citizens whose versions contradict each other in material terms, none of whom I was allowed to cross-examine,” she said.
Moitra had said the ethics panel did not go to the root of the issue and did not summon businessman Darshan Hiranandani who made the allegations against her.
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