'They were asking filthy questions': Mahua Moitra, Opposition MPs walk out of ethics panel meet

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday walked out from the Parliament Ethics Committee meeting, saying the panel was asking "filthy questions". Along with her, some Opposition MPs including BSP's Danish Ali also walked out of the panel meeting. "They asked personal questions to the woman (TMC MP Mahua Moitra). They do not have the right to ask personal questions, so we walked out," Janata Dal (United) MP Giridhari Yadav was quoted as saying by ANI.

Also Read: 'Cash-for-query' row: Mahua Moitra says she 'gave Darshan Hiranandani her Parliament login ID, password to...’

Congress MP Uttam Kumar Reddy said, "The whole line of questions it seems that he's (Parliament Ethics Committee Chairman) acting on somebody's behest. It is very, very bad. For two days we have been asking him some things...They are asking her (Mahua Moitra) where are you travelling? Where are you meeting? Can you give us your phone records?...There is no evidence of any cash transfer."

After the meeting, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said that the conduct of Moitra was condemnable and that she used unparliamentary words for the chairman and for all the members of the committee. "So, the chairperson of the Committee was asking questions regarding the contents of the affidavit by Hiranandani and she did not want to answer them. And then they created a ruckus.."

Moitra is accused of asking questions in Parliament in exchange for gifts and money from Darshan Hiranandani, the son of real estate tycoon Niranjan Hiranandani. While the 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.

However, Moitra said Dehadrai was not some "Supreme Court lawyer" who had done painstaking research on her. "He is a jilted ex with acrimonious personal history with me who somehow wanted to get back at me," she said in a statement. Dehadrai reportedly had a bitter feud with Moira after their relationship ended. Moitra and Dehadrai's ongoing tussle revolves around the custody of their pet Rottweiler, Henry.    

Moitra has admitted that she shared her log-in credentials with Hiranandani but has ruled out any pecuniary motive and asserted that the questions were always hers. She has claimed that the Adani Group is behind the "bogus" charges due to her strident criticism of the business conglomerate.

The Ethics Committee had also written to the IT Ministry for the Parliament log-in details and the Home Ministry for her foreign trips. 

Sources told India Today that Moitra's Parliament account was accessed 47 times from Dubai. They also revealed that Mahua Moitra undertook 14 unaccounted overseas trips during her tenure as a Member of Parliament. The BJP sources alleged that the Speaker's office was not provided with the necessary information pertaining to these trips.