"Why are we anticipating Speaker's actions...let ethics panel report be tabled": BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Cash for Query report
Dec 08, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 8 : Reacting to the oppositon demands to hold debates and discussions on the Ethics Panel report which is being tabled in Lok Sabha today, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Friday asked why the opposition has already decided on what action will the Lok Sabha Speaker take against TMC Mahua Moitra in the alleged "cash-for-query" case.
"Whether it will be discussed or not, who will speak on it - all of this will be decided by the Speaker. That is what the rules say. So how will the Speaker act on this issue, why are we anticipating that? The Constitution is clear on this issue. Whatever will happen in the House is the prerogative of the Speaker. If the party nominates my name on the issue and the Speaker goes against this, then I won't be able to speak. Let it be done first (tabling of report), I will answer all the questions after that," Nishikant Dubey told reporters.
Also, Vinod Sonkar, Chairman of the Ethics Committee of Parliament also confirmed the report being tabled today, "Yes, the Committee's report will be presented before the Parliament today."
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon, minutes after the proceedings of the House began for the day, amid ruckus in the House.
Prior to the commencement of the Session in the Lower House today, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said that now the people will see the battle of Mahabharata.
Speaking to the media, Mahua said "Mother Durga has arrived, we will see. These people who have started snatching clothes will now see the battle of Mahabharata."
She also quoted from poet and former Rajya Sabha Member, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar saying "Destruction befalls a person, conscience dies first," (Jab Naash Manuj par chaata hai, pehle vivek mar jaata hai).
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the suspension from the house was not required for such an issue
"The issue is going on for a long time...It is putting the wrong message across the nation. Why does this government do revenge politics? PM Modi talks well but I don't understand why's there so much difference in his speech and actions...What was such a huge mistake that suspension from the house was needed? Can they not ask her in the House in front of everyone...It appears to be a dictatorship" Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
The Ethics Committee, which investigated the allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, adopted its 500-page report on November 9 recommending Moitra's expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha in view of her "highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct. The draft report was adopted by a 6:4 majority in the panel last month.
As per the sources, the draft report on Mahua Moitra's cash-for-questions case reveals that she visited the UAE four times from 2019 to 2023 while her login was accessed several times.
The TMC has demanded that the MP Mahua Moitra be given a chance to put forth her defence. TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said, "I spoke with the Speaker, and he said that this committee report along with other reports will be tabled. I said that TMC MP Mahua Moitra should be given a chance to speak."
Mahua Moitra is facing the heat of the "cash-for-query" allegations against her. The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee had recently recommended her expulsion from the Lower House.
The Ethics Committee, which investigated the allegations made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, adopted its 500-page report on November 9 recommending Moitra's expulsion from the 17th Lok Sabha in view of her "highly objectionable, unethical, heinous and criminal conduct.
