"It's a question of dignity of Parliament": Nishikant Dubey after Ethics Committee meet

Oct 26, 2023

New Delhi [India], October 26 : Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey who appeared before the Ethics Committee on his "Cash for Query' allegations against TMC MP Mahua Moitra, said that it was a question of the dignity of Parliament.
"The question is whether the propriety and dignity of Parliament will hold. It is a question of the dignity of Parliament," Dubey said, adding that the Ethics Committee is more worried than him.
"They were normal questions...I can't share the questions but all I can say is that all MPs are worried...They were very cordial and asked the questions very respectfully," Dubey said when asked about the questions that were asked from him when he appeared before the Committee today to submit oral evidence in regard to the complaint filed by Dubey against TMC MP Mahua Moitra.
Speaking on when Mahua Moitra will be called by the Ethics Committee, he said, "The Committee will decide on that".
Dubey added that he is prepared to come before the Ethics Committee again whenever he is called.
"When they call me next, I will come...They said that if needed, they would call us. We will go...," the BJP MP said.
Dubey said that the Ethics Committee is discussing whether the allegations levelled by him against Mahua Moitra are correct or not.
"The Ethics Committee is discussing the allegations that have been levelled against the MP. The question is whether I am levelling the correct charges (against her or not). The Ethics Committee will decide this..."
"The question is whether the culprit is Mahua or not. It is not who the culprit is. I am taking a specific name. This will be decided by the Ethics Committee," he added.
Nishikant Dubey and Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai appeared before the Ethics Committee on Thursday to submit oral evidence on the complaint filed by Dubey against TMC MP Mahua Moitra. Dubey alleged that Moitra has "a direct involvement in the 'cash for query' scam in Parliament.
The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee is headed by BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar and includes Vishnu Datt Sharma, Sumedhanand Saraswati, Aparajita Sarangi, Rajdeep Roy, Sunita Duggal, and Subhash Bhamre of the BJP; Ve Vaithilingam, N Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Preneet Kaur of the Congress; Balashowry Vallabbhaneni (YSRCP); Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena); Giridhari Yadav (JD-U); P R Natarajan (CPI-M); and Kunwar Danish Ali (BSP).
The BJP MP earlier wrote to the Lok Sabha speaker, alleging the involvement of Mahua Moitra in the 'Cash for Query' scandal. He further claimed that he had proof of the charges as given to him by Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai.
Dubey, in his letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, titled "Re-emergence of nasty 'Cash for Query' in Parliament," had alleged "'serious Breach of Privilege', 'Contempt of the House' and a 'Criminal Offence' under Section 120A of IPC" by the Trinamool Congress MP.
Dubey claimed that an Advocate, Jai Anant Dehadrai, had provided him with proof of a bribe. In response to this letter, the TMC MP said that she would welcome a probe by the speaker after he dealt with alleged breaches of privilege by other BJP MPs.