"I will speak when they table it..." TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Ethics Committee report

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing controversy on the alleged "cash-for-query" case, TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Monday denied commenting on the Ethics Committee report saying "she'll only speak when they table the report before the Parliament." The TMC MP said, "What can I say when it was not even tabled (before the Parliament)? Had they tabled it, I would have said something. I will speak when they table it..."

According to several media reports, the committee in its report has recommended the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in a "cash-for-query" case. Meanwhile, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday alleged that the Congress MP and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leaked the Ethics Committee report on Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra before it was tabled in the House.

Speaking to ANI, the BJP MP also said that he is not aware of what is mentioned in the report. "...Let the report be tabled. I don't know what is mentioned in the report...What I had to say, I said before the Ethics Committee...I will be able to make a comment only after the report is tabled. The report will be tabled after 12 pm...I don't know how was the report leaked, I think Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury leaked it..." Dubey said.

The Ethics Committee, which probed the 'cash-for-query' allegations against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, was reportedly scheduled to lay its report in Lok Sabha on the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament on December 4. Lok Sabha Ethics Committee had last month submitted its draft report connection with the 'cash-for-query' case to Speaker Om Birla. Sources said the committee had recommended the expulsion of Moitra. The Ethics Committee, which investigated the allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, adopted its 500-page report on November 9 recommending Moitra's expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha in view of her "highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct."

Notably, Nishikant Dubey had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Moitra, accusing her of asking questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts. However, several leaders of the opposition, including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Danish Ali and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has opposed the report.

"Ethics Committee report is against the rules; Mahua Moitra's deposition is incomplete. So, we are demanding a discussion, at least in the House. We have also written to the Speaker about how can there be a suo-motu recommendation against a member. Nobody is ready to abide by the rules and regulations..." Danish Ali said. Adhir Ranjan, while speaking to ANI said that his party will oppose the expulsion of Mahua from Parliament. "We will oppose as such an expulsion should not be done. We have written a letter and we have been saying that the issues of Parliament should be dealt inside the Parliament..." he said.