After being removed from the 17th Lok Sabha as a Trinamool Congress MP due to a 'cash for query' case, TMC leader Mahua Moitra criticized the Ethics Committee's investigation as a tool to suppress opposition, alleging that the panel has disregarded all established rules.
The ousted member of Lok Sabha claimed that she was accused of violating a code of conduct that she believes is non-existent.
Moitra was removed from the Lok Sabha following a debate on the Ethics Committee's report regarding the 'cash for query' issue, which was presented in the Lower House today.
Soon after her expulsion, she read her statement on Parliament premises and said, "This LS has also seen the weaponisation of the Parliamentary committee. Ironically the Ethics Committee which was set up to serve as a moral compass for members, instead it has been abused egregiously today to do exactly what it was never meant to do, which is to bulldoze the opposition and become another weapon to 'thok do' (crush) us into submission."
"This committee and this report have broken every rule in the book. In essence you are finding me guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist," Moitra said, adding that The committee is reprimanding her for participating in a customary, sanctioned, and promoted practice within the House.
Moitra went on to claim that the conc lusions were founded entirely on the written statements of two individuals who are not public officials, and their accounts differ significantly on important points. She also stated that she was denied the opportunity to question them.
"None of whom I was allowed to cross-examine. One of the two private citizens is my estranged partner, who with malafide intention, masqueraded as a common citizen in front of the committe. The two testimonies have been used to hang me there at polar opposites to each other," she said.
"The complainant says (that) I accepted cash in consideration for my businessman to ask questions in furtherance of his commercial interests. But the businessman's suo motu affidavit, says I pressurised him into uploading questions to further my agenda. The two are at pole of opposites," she clarified on the issue.
The Ethics Committee report probing 'Unethical Conduct' of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP had recommended that Moitra "may be expelled" from the Lok Sabha and called for an "intense, legal, institutional inquiry" by the central government in a "time-bound manner".
"The serious misdemeanours on the part of Mahua Moitra calls for severe punishment. The Committee, therefore, recommend that Mahua Moitra, MP may be expelled from the Membership of the Seventeenth Lok Sabha," the report read.
Speaker Om Birla said, "...This House accepts the conclusions of the Committee that MP Mahua Moitra's conduct was immoral and indecent as an MP. So, it is not appropriate for her to continue as an MP..."
The House was subsequently adjourned until December 11th.
The opposition Members of Parliament quickly left the Lok Sabha after the motion to remove Mahua Moitra as a TMC Member of Parliament was approved.
Moitra stated that the Ethics Committee hastily made the decision to incriminate her without thoroughly investigating the matter. She expressed frustration that the committee failed to call the businessman to testify and pointed out the lack of evidence regarding any monetary transactions or gifts.
"You tell me that I have compromised national security with a login portal. Adani is buying all our ports, airports...Ramesh Bidhuri stands up in Parliament and says to Danish Ali, who is one of 26 Muslim MPs in the country of 200 million Muslims. The BJP has 303 MPs and has not sent one Muslim MP to Parliament. No action has been taken (against Ramesh Bidhuri). You hate minorities, you hate women, you detest Nari Shakti, and you cannot handle power and authority," she said, adding that she is 49 years old and will continue to fight you for the next 30 years inside or outside Parliament.
