Cash-for-query row: Mahua Moitra to appear before Ethics Committee on Oct 31
first meeting of the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha was held on Thursday to address the "Cash for Query" allegations lodged against the TMC MP. Earlier in the day, sources told news agency ANI that the Parliament Ethics Committee agreed “that the charges against TMC MP Mahua Moitra are very serious and the committee will consider them seriously." BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai appeared before the Committee on Thursday to submit oral evidence in regard to the complaint filed by Dubey against Moitra.
The TMC MP was also asked to appear before the panel on October 31. When asked about Mahua's allegations that Dubey submitted a fake degree in his election nomination papers, the BJP MP was quoted by ANI as saying that there is only one question "Mahua chor hai ki nahi" (Is Mahua a thief or not?)".
Dubey later told reporters that he would reply to whatever questions the committee would ask him. “Documents don't lie," he added when it was pointed out that Moitra had refuted all the allegations levelled against her.
The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee is headed by the BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar and includes Vishnu Datt Sharma, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Aparajita Sarangi, Rajdeep Roy, Sunita Duggal, and Subhash Bhamre of the BJP; Ve Vaithilingam, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Preneet Kaur of the Congress; Balashowry Vallabbhaneni (YSRCP); Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena); Giridhari Yadav (JD-U); P R Natarajan (CPI-M); and Kunwar Danish Ali (BSP).
Allegations and counter-allegations Moitra was accused of being involved in the 'Cash for Query' scandal in Parliament last week with BJP MP Nishikant Dubey approaching the Ethics Committee. He alleged that the TMC leader accepted bribes and favours in return for asking questions in the
