New Delhi: In her written response to the parliamentary ethics committee looking into Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey’s allegations against her, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has said she is busy working in her constituency till November 4, and so she asks that the committee change the date on which she is to appear to any time after November 5. She has also questioned why the committee heard the complainants before giving her a chance to appear.Earlier, the committee had asked Moitra to appear on October 31 – after it had already called and heard the two people raising allegations against her, Dubey and advocate Jai Dehadrai. “The Committee – against the order of natural justice, if I may humbly add – summoned and heard the complainants Shri Dubai & Shri Dehadrai on 26/10/2023 prior to allowing me, the alleged accused, a chance to be heard,” Moitra has said in her letter. “…I eagerly look forward to physically attending and presenting my defence against the slanderous charges levelled against me at the next date provided by you.”Backing up her request for additional time, Moitra cited the recent example of BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, who had used communal slurs against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali in parliament. Bidhuri had told the privileges committee that he would not be able appear before the committee on the designated date as he had prior commitments in Rajasthan, where he has been made BJP’s election in-charge in Tonk.In addition, Moitra has also brought up businessman Darshan Hiranandani, who has filed a controversial affidavit on the matter. Hiranandani has told Times Now that he is willing to appear before the house committee. Moitra has alleged that Hiranandani, who has been accused by Dubey and Dehadrai of bribing the TMC MP to ask questions about the Adani Group, filed this affidavit under pressure.Also read: As Modi Government and Adani Train Guns on Opposition MP Mahua Moitra, Here’s What We Know and Don’t KnowGiven the circumstances, Moitra says, it is only fair that she be given the chance to cross-question Hiranandani and also be given a full list of the bribes he allegedly gave her. “His affidavit in the public domain is extremely scant on detail and provides no actual inventory of what he has allegedly given me. Given the seriousness of the allegations and in keeping with the principles of natural justice it is imperative that I am allowed to exercise my right to cross-examine Shri Hiranandani and it is also imperative that he appear before the committee and provide a detailed verified list of the alleged gifts & favours he allegedly provided to me. I wish to place on record that any enquiry without the oral evidence of Shri Hiranandani will be incomplete, unfair and akin to holding a proverbial “kangaroo court” and that he too will need to called to depose for the Committee before it prepares its final report,” Moitra’s letter to the committee states.As The Wire has reported, the House Ethics Committee earlier saw a “vertical split” between the Opposition and the ruling party MPs on when to summon Moitra to depose before it. Eventually, the BJP had its way by dint of sheer numbers. Moitra should have been called ahead of the complainants according to several MPs who cited normal procedure to object to the latter being given time first.
