LS expels Mahua Moitra; TMC leader equates action with ‘hanging by a kangaroo court’


PTI, Dec 8, 2023, 6:52 PM IST

New Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra was expelled on Friday from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest.

After a heated debate over the panel report during which Moitra was not allowed to speak, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved a motion to expel the Trinamool member for “unethical conduct”, which was adopted by a voice vote.

Reacting sharply to her expulsion, Moitra equated the action with hanging by a “kangaroo court” and alleged a parliamentary panel was being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission.

She told reporters that she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.

The Ethics Committee report found Moitra guilty of “unethical conduct” and contempt of the House by sharing her Lok Sabha credentials — User ID and password of Lok Sabha Member’s Portal, with unauthorised persons which had an irrepressible impact on national security.

The motion moved by Joshi said that Moitra’s “conduct has further been found to be unbecoming as a member of parliament for accepting gifts and illegal gratification from a businessman to further his interest which is a serious misdemeanour and highly deplorable conduct” on her part.

Joshi urged the House to accept the recommendation and finding of the committee and “resolve that continuance of Mahua Moitra as member of Lok Sabha is untenable and she may be expelled from the membership of the Lok Sabha”.

Trinamool Congress and other opposition members demanded that Moitra be allowed to put her views in the House, which was turned down by Speaker Om Birla citing past precedence.

Birla observed that in 2005, the then Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had in a directive disallowed 10 Lok Sabha members, who were involved in a ‘cash for questions’ scam, to speak in the House.

Joshi said in 2005 the then Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee had moved a motion to expel 10 members on the same day the report was introduced in the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Ethics Committee Chairman Vinod Kumar Sonkar tabled the first report of the Committee on the complaint filed by BJP member Nishikant Dubey against Moitra.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Maharashtra assembly polls: Mahayuti leads in 146 seats, MVA ahead in 132

Kaziranga National Park to be centrepiece of 12th edition of ITM in Assam

Engineer dead, supervisor injured as wire rope snaps at metro site

Karnataka bypolls: Cong leads in Sandur, BJP and JD(S) ahead in Shiggaon and Channapatna

Elections: Vote counting begins Maharashtra & Jharkhand

Counting of votes underway for bypolls to three Assembly segments in Karnataka

Ullal: 70-year-old man allegedly rapes minor girl

Related Articles More

Maharashtra assembly polls: Mahayuti leads in 146 seats, MVA ahead in 132

Kaziranga National Park to be centrepiece of 12th edition of ITM in Assam

Engineer dead, supervisor injured as wire rope snaps at metro site

Elections: Vote counting begins Maharashtra & Jharkhand

MVA collects letters of support from over 160 candidates to form govt in Maharashtra

MUST WATCH

Christmas Cake Fruit Mixing

DK Shivakumar

Rose Cultivation

Geethotsava

Naxal Operation


Latest Additions

Geethartha Chinthane 102: Self-development vs. self-contraction

Maharashtra assembly polls: Mahayuti leads in 146 seats, MVA ahead in 132

Vikram Gowda Encounter: Uneasy silence shrouds Peethabail

Kaziranga National Park to be centrepiece of 12th edition of ITM in Assam

Engineer dead, supervisor injured as wire rope snaps at metro site

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.