Mahua Moitra suspended from LS, she dubs it as ‘hanged by a kangaroo court’

New Delhi: Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra was expelled from the Lok Saba on Friday after a debate on the cash-for-question allegations.

As Mhua Mointra was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha during the debate despite the Trinamool’s request to make her the speaker on behalf of the party during the debate.

After the voting which was in favour of Mahua Moitra’s expulsion, the Trinamool leader read out her statement outside the Lok Sabha which she came prepared with. Reiterating that it was the conduct of a kangaroo court, Mahua Moitra said there was no evidence of cash.

Darshan Hiranandani was not heard by the ethics committee either, Mahua Moitra said. “There was no evidence of any cash, any gifts anywhere. The recommendation of expulsion was solely based on the complaint that I shared my login. But there is no rule whatsoever in this regard,” Mahua Moitra said.

“…This House accepts the conclusions of the Committee that MP Mahua Moitra’s conduct was immoral and indecent as an MP. So, it is not appropriate for her to continue as an MP…” Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said.

The ethics committee report which recommended the expulsion of Mahua Moitra was tabled on Friday and within hours the West Bengal MP was expelled. Both the Congress and the Trinamool sought more time to go through the report.

Mahua Moitra was alleged to have taken cash and gifts from industrialist Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for Parliament login using which Hiranandani posted questions against Gautam Adani and the Adani Group. The complaint was first brought by advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey forwarded Jai Anant’s complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker.

The issue was transferred to the ethics committee which after questioning Nishikant Dubey, Jai Anant Dehadrai and Mahua Moitra recommended Mahua Moitra’s expulsion. The ethics committee report was taken up by the Lok Sabha on Friday and Mahua Moitra got expelled.

I was hanged by Kangaru Court, says Mahua:  On her expulsion she equated with hanging by a “kangaroo court” and alleged a parliamentary panel is being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission.

Minutes after her expulsion as a Lok Sabha member, Moitra said she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.

The Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha had recommended her expulsion in the “cash-for-query” case.

The report was tabled in the House Friday noon. Later the government moved a motion seeking her expulsion from the House, saying her continuation as an MP has become “untenable”.

She said one of the two complainants was her estranged partner with a mala fide intention. She said he masqueraded as a common citizen before the ethics panel.