"Amused to see how headless Lokpal...referred my case to CBI": Mahua Moitra

New Delhi [India], November 25 : TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Saturday said that she was amused to see that the anti-corruption body Lokpal which is currently not functioning with a full-time chairman referred the complaint to the Central Bureau of Investigation in the 'Cash For Query' Case.
The remarks of the TMC MP came after CBI on Saturday initiated an enquiry in the 'Cash For Query' to look into the allegations.
In this regard, Mahua Moitra also shared a copy of the RTI dated November 3 which mentioned that the position of chairperson is vacant.
"Amused to see how headless Lokpal with no full-time Chairman "referred" my case to CBI. RTI of 3/11/23 says Lokpal has no Chairman since May 2022 and 3 of 8 member posts also vacant! Maybe the Jharkhand Branch of Pitbull Association also moonlighting as Lokpal Committee under BJP," TMC MP posted on X.
Currently, Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Member (Judicial) has been serving as the acting Chairperson, Lokpal since May 28, 2022.
Earlier today, a senior CBI official said that no Preliminary Enquiry (PE) has been registered however an investigation has been initiated as the matter was referred by the anti-corruption body Lokpal.
"We are enquiring into the matter that was sent to us by Lokpal. We have yet to gather more details into the matter," the CBI official told ANI.
Reacting to the 'Jharkhand Branch of Pitbull Association' remark of TMC MP, BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey said that Mahua Moitra has insulted Jharkhand and that people of Jharkhand are always fond of teaching lessons to thieves.
"The MP accused of corruption and selling her conscience for some money has gone mad, she does not know the past, future, and present of Jharkhand, she is calling the entire Jharkhandi a dog. Jharkhand gave birth to Tilak Manjhi in 1776, and Sido-Kano in 1855, In 1890, the country was liberated under the leadership of Lord Birsa Munda, Rajnarayan Bose, Maharishi Arvind, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Nazrul Islam, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Jharkhand is the home of all," BJP MP posted on X.
"Great scientists, JC Bose, Birbal Sahni and economist Mahalanobis all are from Jharkhand. It is connected. Even today, 50 per cent of the minerals of this country are here. If theft is caught then there will be abuses, I wish some values had been learned from the Bhadralok of Bengal. Jharkhandi is always fond of teaching a lesson to thieves, wait," he added.
In another post on X, TMC MP Mahua Moitra hoped that an investigation should be opened against the Adani group in the alleged coal scam adding that neither Lokpal nor CBI has uploaded any official order on their website in regards to enquiry against her.
"Neither has Lokpal uploaded any referral order on the website as per the Lokpal Act nor has CBI put out anything official. "Sources" telling journos as per usual media circus. Hope the Rs 13,000 crore Adani coal scam merits CBI PE before my witchhunt," TMC MP said.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said to let the law take its own course.
Coming in support of the party leader, TMC leader Shashi Panja called the enquiry against Mahua Moitra 'a witchhunt and said, "This is a concerted effort and a witch-hunt to harass a TMC MP, TMC and Bengal. We are again reiterating the facts regarding the two allegations against her."
"The fallout of the ethics committee, the behaviour she meted out and even the recommendation of expulsion. This entire process is a process of malignancy. Those who could not and will not win in Bengal, it is all a process of that and this will escalate. The CBI and the investigation agencies are not being used, they are being misused," she added.
On CBI initiating inquiry against TMC MP Mahua Moitra in the 'Cash For Query' Case, BSP MP Danish Ali said, "In this country on some frivolous complaints action is taken at the speed of a bullet. Mahua Moitra 's matter was with the Parliament's ethics committee, and even there she was not heard. It is felt that if a voice is raised against some particular individual all efforts will be made to silence that voice. But the country will not tolerate this."
Meanwhile, NCP (Sharad Pawar Faction) leader Anil Deshmukh said that CBI and ED are being misused against opposition leaders.
"The CBI inquiry has started on Mahua Moitra today, an inquiry committee was already formed in the Parliament. The whole country is seeing the way in which the CBI and the ED are being misused. Whether it is Maharashtra, West Bengal or Rajasthan, the leaders of any state where the BJP is not in power, are being targeted," Deshmukh said.
After the Central Bureau of Investigation initiated an investigation against TMC MP Mahua Moitra to look into 'quid pro quo' allegations of raising questions in Parliament, Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Saturday questioned the role of CBI in this row and said what role does the central agency have to play here when this is an inside matter of Parliament.
Speaking to ANI, Rashid Alvi said," From where did CBI come in between? This issue is related to the Parliament. Only Parliament can decide on this issue. The committee has given the recommendation to Parliament. How can CBI come in between? CBI has nothing to do with it."
Rashid Alvi further stated that the investigation has been opened against TMC MP with "revengeful intent".
"This is revengeful. All this is done to create problems for Mahua Moitra. Since the BJP has come to power, ED, CBI and Income Tax have been working against the opposition. Did people in India hear the word ED ten years ago to this extent?" he said.
Mahua Moitra is facing the heat of the "cash-for-query" allegations against her. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee has recently recommended her expulsion from the Lower House.
Lok Sabha Ethics Committee investigated the cash-for-query allegations and adopted the report against Moitra with a 6:4 majority recommending the expulsion of the TMC member.
Moitra had appeared before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on November 2 over the cash-for-query allegations against her. Along with opposition members of the panel, she "walked out" of the meeting on Thursday. Opposition members raised questions over the line of questioning and alleged that "personal questions" were posed to the Trinamool Congress MP.
BSP MP Danish Ali, Janata Dal (United) MP Giridhari Yadav, and Congress MP Uttam Kumar Reddy were among those who "walked out" of the meeting. Moitra alleged that she was subjected to humiliating personal questions from the panel.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Moitra stated that "unethical, sordid, prejudiced behaviour was meted out" to her during the meeting.
Earlier Nishikant Dubey had earlier approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against Moitra, accusing her of asking questions in Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts.
The draft report is learnt to have suggested that "serious misdemeanours on the part of Mahua Moitra calls for severe punishment".The report of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee is now with speaker Om Birla who will take a final decision on the fate of the Trinamool MP.