Ethics Panel Recommends Expulsion Of Mahua Moitra, TMC MP Calls It 'Kangaroo Court' Decision. Top Points

Dismissing the expulsion recommendation, Moitra said that even if she is expelled she would come back in the next Lok Sabha with a bigger mandate.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra

Source : PTI

News Delhi: After the Ethics Committee recommended Mahua Moitra's expulsion from the Lok Sabha due to cash for query allegations, the TMC MP called it a "prefixed match by a kangaroo court." 

Dismissing the expulsion recommendation, Moitra said that even if she is expelled she would come back in the next Lok Sabha with a bigger mandate. “Even if they expel me in this Lok Sabha, I will be back in the next Lok Sabha with a bigger mandate,” she told PTI in a telephonic interview.

The committee, chaired by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar, adopted its report suggesting Moitra's expulsion from the lower house of Parliament on Thursday.

Meanwhile, TMC leader Shashi Panja slammed the Ethics Committee for not behaving in an "ethical fashion." 

"When the probe is underway (regarding 'cash for query allegations' against TMC MP Mahua Moitra) then how is the Ethics committee making recommendations? The Ethics committee does not seem to be behaving in an ethical fashion," she said.

Here Are The Latest Updates

• Reacting to the panel's recommendation, Moitra told PTI, “This is a pre-fixed match by a kangaroo court, which is of no surprise or consequence. But the larger message is that for India, it is death of parliamentary democracy." She claimed, “From day one, it was a kangaroo court. There is no evidence, no trail, nothing. They called me for questioning, which was not complete because the chairperson did not allow others to question me.”
  
  
• Moitra highlighted her demand for cross-examining the main complainant, stating, “There was no cross-examining of the main complainant, the alleged bribe giver. I was not allowed to cross-examine the main complainant. Not a single piece of evidence of cash or gifts given till today, the issue of login sharing is a non-issue because every MP shares it with 10 people and there are no NIC rules.” 
  
  
• In the report, the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has cited the threats India faces from state and non-state cyber actors to indict Mahua Moitra for sharing her log-in credentials with businessman Darshan Hiranandani, noting that he has residency rights in Dubai and has close relatives who are foreign nationals, reported PTI.
  
  
• Committee chairman Vinod Sonkar said that six members supported the report, while four members opposed it. "The Ethics Committee had prepared a report regarding the allegations on Mahua Moitra. Today's single agenda was to adopt that report. The report has been adopted, in which six members supported it and four voted against it," he said.
  
  
• JDU MP and panel member Giridhari Yadav backed the TMC MP while criticizing the panel for preparing the case report without any discussion. "They are openly violating the rules. How can they prepare the report without discussion?'' he told ANI.
  
  
• On allegations that the ethics committee was already "fixed", Sonkar said, "Today's agenda was only to adopt the report which was prepared after last three meetings, the complaint and Hira Nandani's affidavit. The agenda was already circulated. A detailed report was sent yesterday. Today, only the process of adoption was supposed to happen. A committee has prepared a report and has already sent it to the Lok Sabha speaker."