Parliament’s ethics committee has summoned Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in relation to the ‘cash for query’ allegations. The committee took this step after recording the oral testimonies of complainants BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai. Moitra has been asked to record her statement on October 31. Chairman of the ethics committee, Vinod Sonkar, stated that the committee also decided to seek details from the ministries of home affairs and IT regarding the conversation between Darshan Hiranandani, Mahua Moitra, and the lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai.

After his deposition, Dubey expressed confidence and stated that he had provided all the information that the committee asked for. He also mentioned that he had submitted all the necessary documents and believed that the truth lies within them. When asked about Moitra’s allegation of him submitting a fake degree, Dubey responded by saying that the focus of the ethics committee proceedings was on Moitra’s conduct.

The ‘cash for query’ allegations refer to the claim made by Nishikant Dubey that Mahua Moitra raised questions targeting the Adani Group in Parliament in exchange for favors from businessman Darshan Hiranandani. Hiranandani submitted an affidavit asserting that Moitra had shared her Parliament login credentials with him.

The ethics committee is chaired by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar and consists of members from various political parties. This includes BJP MPs Vishnu Datt Sharma, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Aparajita Sarangi, Rajdeep Roy, Sunita Duggal, and Subhash Bhamre; Congress MPs Ve Vaithilingam, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Preneet Kaur; YSRCP’s Balashowry Vallabbhaneni; Shiv Sena’s Hemant Godse; JDU’s Giridhari Yadav; CPM’s P R Natarajan; and BSP’s Kunwar Danish Ali.

This development marks the first meeting of the ethics committee to address the ‘cash for query’ allegation against Mahua Moitra.