She apparently agreed to give businessman Darshan Hiranandani access to her parliamentary ID, but she refused to take presents or other financial compensation in exchange for asking questions in the House.
She said that Jai Anant Dehadrai, the counsel from the Supreme Court who filed a complaint against her with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was her “jilted ex” and ascribed the complaint to a “sour personal relationship.”
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In the event that the accusations are validated, Moitra may face expulsion from the Parliament for violating parliamentary privilege.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to Speaker Om Birla of the Lok Sabha in response to Dehadrai’s protest. He charged Moitra with accepting money from Hiranandani in exchange for Moitra raising objections in Parliament against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Adani Group.
She and Dehadrai are engaged in a legal dispute in the interim around Henry, their beloved dog.
During the proceedings, opposition MPs back Moitra.
Later that evening, the committee set up a cross-examination after recording her testimony.
A number of opposition MPs supported Moitra at the ethics committee session, including Danish Ali of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and N Uttam Kumar Reddy of the Congress.
They argued that she posed no threat to national security because her parliamentary login ID was only used to submit enquiries.
Other opposition MPs questioned if each MP submits a question on their own, without assistance.
BJP expresses worries over national security
The BJP, however, raised worries about national security with the disclosure of her login details to Hiranandani, a resident of Dubai.
She had previously acknowledged that she had shared her login information with others and claimed that doing so was not against the law.
She was speaking of Dubey when she remarked that a “Jharkhandi pitbull” wouldn’t bring her down.
The assertions that Hiranandani’s Dubai login compromised national security, she added, were “ludicrous,” emphasising that there are no access limitations on the NIC login for Parliament.
Out of the 61 queries Moitra asked on Hiranandani’s behalf: 50 Dubey
Meanwhile, in his letter to Birla, Dubey said that Hiranandani paid Moitra Rs. 2 crore, luxury presents including an iPhone, and another Rs. 75 lakh for fighting elections.
He said that 50 of the 61 questions posed by Moitra between 2019 and 2023 were with the intent of “protecting or perpetuating the business interests” of Hiranandani and his real estate-to-energy conglomerate.
The Hiranandani Group reportedly lost infrastructure projects to the Adani Group.