Cash-for-Query Case: Mahua Moitra To Face Ethics Panel Tomorrow Amid Report Of 47 Logins From Dubai

Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra is scheduled to appear before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on Thursday, November 2, in connection with the alleged 'cash-for-query' scandal. Additionally, she has requested permission from the ethics committee to cross-examine the alleged 'bribe giver,' Darshan Hiranandani, and the complainant advocate, Jai Dehadrai.

Here are the top development in the case

• Moitra, a TMC Lok Sabha MP, publicly shared her letter to the ethics committee chairman and BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar on Wednesday. Posting the two-page letter on her social media account, Moitra stated, "Since the Ethics Committee deemed it fit to release my summons to the media, I think it is important that I also release my letter to the Committee before my 'hearing' tomorrow."
• In her letter, Moitra claimed that advocate Dehadrai failed to provide any documentary evidence supporting his allegations in either his written complaint or during his oral hearing. She added, "I wish to place on record that, in keeping with the principles of natural justice, I wish to exercise my right to cross-examine Hiranandani."
• Sources familiar with the matter revealed on Wednesday that nearly 47 log-ins to Moitra's parliamentary account were made from Dubai. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused Moitra of posing questions through her parliamentary account at the behest of Hiranandani in exchange for bribes and favors from the Dubai-based scion of a well-known business family. Moitra acknowledged sharing her log-in credentials with Hiranandani, whom she described as a long-time friend, but denied any financial motives and asserted that the questions were always her own.
• Dubey referred to "media reports" indicating that Moitra's log-in was used 47 times from Hiranandani's location in Dubai, corresponding to the number of questions asked in Parliament. He remarked, "If this news is true, then all the MPs of the country should stand against Mahua ji's corruption. Hiranandani asked questions in Lok Sabha for Hiranandani. Are we MPs for promoting the selfish interests of capitalists," as reported on X.
• Dubey has alleged that Hiranandani and Moitra are in contact, and efforts are being made to influence witnesses.
• Hiranandani submitted an affidavit admitting to the allegations that he bribed Moitra to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Moitra has claimed that the businessman filed the affidavit under duress.
• Moitra expressed in her letter to the committee, "I wish to place on record that any inquiry 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 be called to depose before the Committee before it prepares its final report."
• In a letter dated October 15 to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Dubey stated that advocate Dehadrai, who was close to Moitra before their falling out, had shared "irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged" between her and businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Birla referred the matter to the Ethics Committee.
• The TMC MP, known for her strong advocacy, dismissed the charges as "jilted ex's lies," referring to Dehadrai, and accused the Adani Group of being behind them, as she has been persistent in scrutinizing the conglomerate's practices and transactions.