Hanged by a kangaroo court: Mahua Moitra on her expulsion from Lok Sabha

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New Delhi: TMC leader Mahua Moitra on Friday equated her expulsion from the Lok Sabha with hanging by a “kangaroo court” and alleged a parliamentary panel is being weaponised by the government to force the opposition into submission.

“This LS has also seen the weaponisation of the Parliamentary committee. Ironically the Ethics Committee which was set up to serve as a moral compass for members, instead it has been abused egregiously today to do exactly what it was never meant to do, which is to bulldoze the opposition and become another weapon to ‘thok do’ (crush) us into submission,” Moitra said.
“This committee and this report have broken every rule in the book. In essence you are finding me guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist,” Moitra said, adding that the committee is punishing her for engaging in a practice that is routine, accepted, and encouraged in the House.
Moitra further alleged that the findings are solely based on the written testimonies of two private citizens whose versions contradict each other in material terms and her right to cross-examine them was snatched.
“None of whom I was allowed to cross-examine. One of the two private citizens is my estranged partner, who with malafide intention, masqueraded as a common citizen in front of the committe. The two testimonies have been used to hang me there at polar opposites to each other,” she said.
“The complainant says (that) I accepted cash in consideration for my businessman to ask questions in furtherance of his commercial interests. But the businessman’s suo motu affidavit, says I pressurised him into uploading questions to further my agenda. The two are at pole of opposites,” she clarified on the issue.

Minutes after her expulsion as a Lok Sabha member, Moitra said she has been found guilty of breaching a code of ethics that does not exist and that there was no evidence of cash or gift given to her.

The Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha had recommended her expulsion in the “cash-for-query” case.

The report was tabled in the House Friday noon. Later the government moved a motion seeking her expulsion from the House, saying her continuation as an MP has become “untenable”.

She said one of the two complainants was her estranged partner with a mala fide intention. She said he masqueraded as a common citizen before the ethics panel.

Hanged by a kangaroo court: Mahua Moitra on her expulsion from Lok Sabha added by on
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