Fresh trouble has knocked Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has initiated a preliminary enquiry against her on a reference from the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal. Lok Sabha Ethics Committee is also investigating the allegations against her.
Though there has been no formal statement from either the CBI or the Lokpal on the issue, the TMC leader will face the probe as the party is grappling with Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigations into some of its prominent leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee.
Sources indicate that the CBI has registered a preliminary enquiry, which is the first step toward ascertaining if the allegations merit a full-fledged investigation. If enough prima facie material is found during the preliminary enquiry, the CBI can convert it into an FIR.
The sources also suggested since the matter is with the Parliament Ethics Committee, a full FIR will not be filed against Moitra until the committee completes its probe.
With Parliament’s Winter Session scheduled to begin on December 4, members have started submitting their questions. The House is likely to make a decision on the Ethics Committee’s recommendation for Moitra’s expulsion during the session.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had approached the Lokpal with a complaint against Moitra over allegations of taking bribes to raise questions in Parliament.
Dubey had also accused Moitra of compromising national security for monetary gains. He had alleged that Moitra asked questions in the Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts.
Moitra has denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that she is being targeted because she raised questions about the deals of the Adani group.
Moitra appeared before the Parliament Ethics panel on November 2 to record her oral evidence on the allegations against her. However, she stormed out of the meeting, claiming that chairperson Vinod Sonkar, a BJP MP, asked her “unethical” and personal questions.
Sonkar accused Moitra of using unparliamentary language against him and other members of the panel. The five Opposition members also stormed out of the meeting on November 2.
Recently, after a probe by the IT Ministry, sources claimed that Moitra’s Parliament login ID was only accessed from Dubai but also from two other places, including ones in the United States.
Moitra admitted to sharing her official login details with Hiranandani, the CEO of the real estate and infrastructure company Hiranandani Group, to have someone from his office type in the questions to be asked in Lok Sabha.
TMC president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has backed Moitra over the issue and said that plans were in the works to expel her from Parliament. However, any such action would assist the lawmaker from Krishnanagar ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Mamata’s nephew and party MP Abhishek Banerjee have already appeared before the ED for questioning in connection with its probe into the alleged school jobs scam in West Bengal.
