'Subjected to 'vastraharan' in the name of Ethics Committee hearing,' alleges Mahua Moitra

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday alleged that she had been subjected to the proverbial 'Vastraharan' by the Ethics Committee chairman during a hearing on the cash-for-query allegations against her. Moitra appeared before the committee today but walked out along with other Opposition MPs saying they were asking "filthy questions".

In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Moitra said instead of asking questions pertinent to the subject, "the chairman (BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar) exhibited a preconceived bias by maliciously and clearly in a defamatory way questioning me".   

"I write to you in great anguish today to update you on the unethical, sordid, and prejudiced behaviour meted out to me at the hearing of the Ethics Committee by the Chairman. I have been subjected to the proverbial 'vastraharan' by him in the presence of all members of the Committee," Moitra said in her strongly worded three-page letter.

"The committee ought to designate itself under a name other than the Ethics Committee as it has no ethics and morality left. Instead of asking questions pertinent to the subject, the Chairman exhibited a preconceived bias by maliciously and clearly in a defamatory way questioning me, so much so that 5 of the 11 members present walked out and boycotted the proceedings in protest at his shameful conduct," she said.

Moitra accused the chairman of asking personal questions. "After more than two hours of this sort of questioning, which seemed to get worse with each question, 5 of the Committee members said they would not be a party to this Cheerharan (disrobing of woman) and boycotted the proceedings."

The MP said that while she respected the proceedings, it was against her personal dignity and rights to be subjected to "this filthy line of questioning" by the chairman.   

Sonkar later said the committee had been tasked with conducting a probe into the matter and that instead of cooperating, the TMC leader turned angry along with opposition members and they used "objectionable words" and made unethical claims against him.

Moitra is accused of asking questions in Parliament in exchange for gifts and money from businessman Darshan Hiranandani, the son of real estate tycoon Niranjan Hiranandani. It was also alleged that she shared her official login credentials with Darshan to draft questions that were to be asked in the Parliament.  

While the TMC MP has denied corruption charges, Darshan has in an affidavit admitted that he had given expensive gifts to Moitra and used her Parliament mail ID to ask questions, which targeted the Adani group. These charges were made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, based on "irrefutable" evidence provided by Supreme Court lawyer Jai Dehadrai.

In her letter, Moitra requested the Lok Sabha Secretariat to disclose the regulations governing the sharing of one's login and password of the portal to merely type out questions, adding that nothing could be submitted without an OTP.

"Why were these rules never given to MPs and if they were why is every single MP sharing this ID and login with numerous people?" she said.  "I repeatedly protested on record that while the Chairman was welcome to ask me any question relevant to the enquiry- namely on the login and on those allegations of gifts for which evidence, or rather complete lack of it, existed he could not ask me detailed personal questions making insinuations about my dignity as a woman."