The Lok Sabha secretariat on Monday told the Supreme Court that Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra’s plea challenging her expulsion from the House was beyond the scope of judicial review which was permissible under the scheme of the Constitution.
In an affidavit filed before a two-judge bench of the top court, the Lok Sabha secretariat said that Moitra’s plea was “wholly misconceived, premature and bereft of any merit, and is outside the purview of Supreme Court’s’ jurisdiction”.
Notably, on December 8 last year, Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha after the House adopted the report of its Ethics Committee that held her guilty of accepting gifts and illegal gratification from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to further his interest. The TMC leader has vehemently denied the allegations.
In its affidavit before the court, the Lok Sabha secretariat referred to Article 122 of the Constitution and submitted that the decision arrived at by Parliament cannot be tested based on the doctrine of proportionality by the court.
“As such, proceedings of the Parliament (and its constituents) cannot be called into question alleging any irregularity of procedure and the House of the People is the sole judge of the lawfulness of proceedings before it,” it said.
“The present petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India seeking to enforce, allegedly, the fundamental rights of a Member of the House, in respect of internal proceedings conducted by the House and the member’s expulsion, is beyond the scope of judicial review, and is not maintainable,” it added.
In its affidavit, the Lok Sabha secretariat also said that sharing credentials to the login portal can be susceptible to potential national security hazards and “can not only render the system of the Lok Sabha to cyberattacks, and potentially disable the system, but can also potentially cripple the functioning of Parliament of India”.
“These are valid concerns of national security as well as the dignity and independence of Parliamentary functioning,” it said in its affidavit before the Supreme Court.
WHAT IS ‘CASH-FOR-QUERY’ CASE?
The allegations against Moitra were raised by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who accused the then TMC MP of asking questions in Parliament “in exchange for cash and gifts” from Hiranandani. The BJP MP had cited advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai’s letter which mentioned “irrefutable evidence” of the alleged exchange between Moitra and Hiranandani.
Hiranandani then submitted a letter before the ethics committee, claiming that Moitra had shared her Parliamentary login ID and password so that he could “post questions on her behalf”.
Later, Moitra, while speaking exclusively to India Today TV, admitted that she had given her Parliament login ID and password to Hiranandani to have someone in his office type in the questions to be asked in Lok Sabha.
On November 2, the TMC leader appeared before the ethics committee but walked out of the meeting along with other Opposition leaders over the nature of the questions which were posed to her. The ethics panel’s chairman was accused of asking “personal questions” to Mahua Moitra.
Later, the panel adopted its report on the allegations against Moitra, which ultimately led to her expulsion as a Lok Sabha MP.
Source Agencies
