Moitra ‘Cash-For-Query’ Row: Oppn wants debate on expulsion report

New Delhi: Opposition members on Monday demanded a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Ethics Committee report, recommending the expulsion of TMC member Mahua Moitra, before any decision was taken on the matter.

The Opposition members made the demand during the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to finalise the agenda for the House this week.

Parliamentary sources said the report of the Ethics Committee on the expulsion of Trinamul Congress leader Moitra from the Lok Sabha was expected to be tabled in the House on Tuesday. The report was listed for presentation in the Lok Sabha on Monday, but the agenda item was not taken up by the presiding officer, raising questions over the continuance of Moitra as a parliamentarian. The Business Advisory Committee also decided to allot 12 hours for discussion on the three bills to replace the colonial-era criminal laws. It also decided to allocate three hours for discussion on the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill.

The Lok Sabha’s Ethics Committee, chaired by BJP member Vinod Sonkar, had adopted its report at a meeting on November 9, recommending Moitra’s expulsion from the lower house over the “cash-for-query” allegation. Six members of the panel, including Congress member Preneet Kaur who had earlier been suspended from the party, voted in favour of the report. Four members of the panel belonging to opposition parties submitted dissent notes. The Opposition members termed the report a “fixed match” and said the complaint filed by BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey, which the panel reviewed, was not supported by a “shred of evidence”.