With the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha set to table its report, recommending expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, on Monday, the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wrote to Speaker Om Birla Saturday, underlining that expulsion was an “extremely serious punishment”. He also pointed out that it was not clear whether the committee had followed well established procedures and established a money trail in the matter.
Chowdhury demanded a relook, review and recasting of the rules and processes related to functioning of parliamentary panels like Privileges Committee and Ethics Committee which are “primarily concerned with the interests and rights of Members of Lok Sabha”. He said there was no “clear-cut demarcation in the roles envisaged for the two Committees, more so, in the matter of exercising penal powers.”
In his four-page letter to the Speaker, Chowdhury said there was no clear definition of “unethical conduct”, and a “code of conduct” for members remains to be formulated though envisaged under the rules of procedure.
The Ethics Committee, which inquired into the cash-for-query allegations levelled by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against Moitra, adopted its draft report on November 9, recommending her expulsion from Lok Sabha for indulging in “unethical conduct” and committing “serious misdemeanours”.
On the Ethics Committee’s report, Chowdhury, citing various rules, said the process to be followed by the panel include “conducting a preliminary enquiry, framing of charges on the basis of evidence adduced or provided, examining all the witnesses who are either direct parties or are related to the matter under investigation on oath… and keeping a signed/authenticated copy of verbatim record of proceedings of the sittings”.
Pointing out that the Ethics Committee has in the past “dealt with a miniscule number of cases which mainly pertained to purported acts of deviation from the general norms of conduct with the punitive action recommended being confined to: admonition, reprimand and suspension from the Sittings of the House for a specified period,” he said it was perhaps the first time that the panel has recommended expulsion of an MP.
“Expulsion from Parliament… is an extremely serious punishment and has very wide ramifications,” he said.
Referring to the 2005 cash-for-question case, Chowdhury recalled that a separate panel set up by Parliament had then examined all concerned, including the media personnel who carried out a sting operation, and members accused of having indulged in acts of misdemeanor, and their evidence was recorded and made part of the report of the panel.
“It is not clear whether the well established procedure was followed and a money trail that is irrefutable has been established in case of the complaint or allegation against Moitra. The Dubai-based businessman who purportedly had access to the ‘log-in credentials’ of Moitra to the Lok Sabha Portal and was placing Questions on her behalf was, as per reports, possibly not called by the Committee for deposing,” he said.
“It is also not clearly known as to why the businessman chose to turn against the member despite his interests apparently being served by way of posing questions by using the log-in credentials. Accepting gifts and giving gifts, which may appear to be expensive depending on the yardstick applied, is a common social practice and it would be extremely difficult to link or attribute accepting gifts to be a money trail for deriving favours,” he said.
Moitra was accused of sharing her Parliament login and password with businessman Darshan Hiranandani so that he could “post the questions” directly “on her behalf when required”. In an interview to The Indian Express, Moitra had admitted that she gave her Parliament login and password details to Hiranandani but denied taking any cash from him, as alleged by lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai in his complaint to the CBI.
Chowdhury urged the Speaker to “have the entire processes relating to the jurisdiction and procedures followed examined and such remedial measures, as needed, taken towards streamlining the functioning.”
Meanwhile, BSP MP Danish Ali too has written to the Speaker, urging him to direct deletion of a paragraph mentioning him from the report of the Ethics Committee before it is presented in the House.
Apart from recommending the expulsion of Moitra, the panel had said that Ali, a member of the committee, “should be ‘admonished’ for twisting/moulding the intent of question put forth by the Chairperson, Committee on Ethics to Moitra during her deposition… with the objective of fomenting the sentiments of public, at large, as well as, disparaging the self-esteem of Chairperson and other Members as well as breaching Rule 275 (2) contained in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha”.
In his letter, Ali said the report contained “some shocking and completely unwarranted facts about me” and “it is completely beyond the jurisdiction of the Chairman of the Committee to have inserted that offending paragraph”.
“The Chairman of the committee is not empowered to mention in a committee report about any individual member or his conduct or the opinion expressed by the member/members in the committee meeting,” he said, urging the Speaker to direct deletion of the paragraph before tabling of the report in Lok Sabha.
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