CBI asks Jai Anant Dehadrai to join probe in Mahua Moitra enquiry

The agency’s probe in the alleged “cash-for-query” matter is based on the recommendation of the Lokpal.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has issued a notice to Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, the complainant in the probe against expelled Lok Sabha member of parliament Mahua Moitra, asking him to appear before it on January 25 in connection with its preliminary enquiry or PE against the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader, people familiar with the development said on Tuesday.

According to the notice sent by CBI’s anti-corruption-3 unit on Monday, seen by HT, Dehadrai has been asked to join the probe team on January 25.

“Whereas it appears that you are acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the subject cites matter, which is being inquired into. In this regard, you are hereby requested to attend before me on 25.01.2024 at 1400 Hrs at office/of Superintendent of Police, CBI, AC-III, 9th Floor, A Wing, CBI HQ, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road,” the notice states.

The agency registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) in November 2023 against TMC MP Mahua Moitra to investigate allegations that she accepted money and favours to ask questions in Parliament.

The agency’s probe in the alleged “cash-for-query” matter is based on the recommendation of the Lokpal, the anti-corruption authority that looks into complaints against public servants.

According to the agency’s manual, a PE is a formal enquiry into any matter to ascertain whether the CBI wants to convert it into a regular case (by filing a First Information Report) based on the available evidence or close it.

As part of the preliminary enquiry, the agency is empowered to examine documents and summon a person for questioning, but it cannot carry out searches or make arrests.

In October, BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on the basis of a complaint by lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, who alleged that Moitra accepted money and favours to ask questions in Parliament.

The same month, he approached the Lokpal over the “cash-for-query” charge against Moitra.

Moitra is accused of giving direct access of her official MP ID to businessman Darshan Hiranandani to post questions on the Lok Sabha portal on her behalf and receiving expensive gifts from the businessman who also allegedly underwrote her bungalow renovations and paid for her foreign trips. While Hiranandani has corroborated the charges, Moitra has denied the allegation that she received gifts, and has asked other parliamentarians if they never shared their passwords.

Lok Sabha ethics committee adopted a report recommending Moitra’s expulsion for “sharing” her login credentials and password with an unauthorised person, its impact on national security and finding that it amounted to unethical conduct and contempt of the House.

The recommendations of the report, which was adopted by a margin of 6-4, also mentioned that Moitra accepted “money — cash and kind, amenities and various other facilities” from businessman Hiranandani.

Moitra dismissed the conclusions of the report.

She was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December 2023.

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