Cash for query: Mahua Moitra to appear before LS Ethics Committee today; key points in her letter to panel

At the centre of a political storm after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to LS Speaker Om Birla alleging she took bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group, Moitra -- in her letter -- asserted she should be allowed to cross-examine him.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra is set to appear before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on November 2 in the alleged cash-for-query case. Just before her appearance, she has released a copy of the letter she submitted to the panel, on X (formerly Twitter).

Let's take a look at the key takeaways from her letter to the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee:

1) At the centre of a political storm after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey wrote to LS Speaker Om Birla alleging she took bribes from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to target the Adani Group, Moitra -- in her letter -- asserted that she should be allowed to cross-examine Hiranandani. She said that an inquiry without allowing her the opportunity to cross-examine would be "incomplete and unfair".

2) She also expressed disappointment on the scheduling of the hearing which she said coincides with her pre-scheduled Vijaya Dashami events. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee had earlier asked her to appear on October 31. She had requested a hearing date after November 5 to accommodate her existing commitments but was denied an extension beyond November 2.

3) Moitra also raised concerns about what she claimed were "double standards" of the Ethics Committee in issuing summons. She said that the panel adopted a very different approach in the case of BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri who, she said, has a "very serious complaint of hate speech" pending against him with the Privileges and Ethics branch.

Bidhuri was summoned on October 10 to provide oral evidence but he expressed his inability to depose as he was away campaigning in Rajasthan, she said.

"No further date of his hearing has been given so far. I wish to place on record that these double-standards reek of political motives and do little to enhance the credibility of the Privileges & Ethics Branch," she said.

4) In her letter, Moitra also said parliamentary committees lack criminal jurisdiction and emphasised on the importance of involving law enforcement agencies in such cases.

"There is also the question of whether the Ethics Committee is the appropriate forum to examine allegations of alleged criminality. I wish to respectfully remind you that Parliamentary Committees do not have criminal jurisdiction and have no mandate to investigate alleged criminality. This can only be done by law enforcement agencies. This check was specifically created by our nation's founders to prevent even the slightest misuse of Committees by governments enjoying a brute majority in Parliament. In addition, if the Ethics Committee seeks a report from any department and wishes to rely on any such report (as per the Chairperson's statement to the media), I should be given a copy of the report and allowed further to cross-examine the department concerned."

(With PTI inputs)