Mahua Moitra’s expulsion ‘extremely serious punishment’, has wide ramifications, Congress’s Adhir writes to LS Speaker | India News

NEW DELHI: Congress’ Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday wrote to Speaker Om Birla seeking discussion on report on TMC leader Mahua Moitra in Parliament’s Winter Session.
In his letter, Adhir said the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra from Parliament is an “extremely serious punishment and has very wide ramifications”.
Chowdhury demanded a reassessment of the regulations and procedures governing parliamentary committees, highlighting that there is no clear demarcation in the roles envisaged for the Privileges Committee and the Ethics Committee, especially on exercising penal powers.”If the media reports on the recommendations of the Ethics Committee on choosing to recommend expelling Mohua Moitra from Parliament are right, it would, perhaps be the first such recommendation of the Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha,” Chowdhury said in his letter to the Speaker.
“Expulsion from Parliament, you will agree sir, is an extremely serious punishment and has very wide ramifications,” he added.
The Lok Sabha ethics panel’s report on Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra will be tabled on the very first day of the session on Monday.

In the list of business uploaded on the Lok Sabha website, the matter is mentioned at item number 5 as per which ethics committee chairman and BJP MP Vinod Kumar Sonkar and his party colleague Aparajita Sarangi will lay the report a few minutes after the start of the session.
The committee had on November 8 adopted a report recommending Moitra’s expulsion from the lower House over ‘cash-for-query’ charges. While six members had voted in favour of the report, including Congress’s rebel MP Praneet Kaur, four opposition MPs had opposed it.
This is the first time since the ethics committee came into existence in 2000 that it has recommended expulsion of a parliamentarian. The privileges committee has taken such steps, including recommending expulsion of 10 MPs in the 2005 cash-for-query scam.
Govt ready for structured debate; Speaker will decide on Ethics Panel report on Mahua Moitra, says Pralhad Joshi after all-party meeting
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the House will abide by the precedent that has been followed on Ethics and the Speaker will decide on the matter in the House.
“The precedent that has been adopted so far on Ethics will be followed. There has been a discussion on that in the Ethics Committee and the Speaker will decide on what will be done in Parliament,” Joshi said while speaking to reporters about the Ethics Committee report.
Moitra has been probed by the Ethics Commitee on the ‘cash-for-query’ allegations levelled against her by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey.
Meanwhile, Union minister Joshi said that the Winter session will commence on December 4 and will conclude on December 22. “There will be 15 sittings in a period of 19 days,” he said.