Cash For Query Row: Delhi High Court Reserves Order On Interim Relief In Mahua Moitra's Defamation Suit Against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, Lawyer

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved order on the interim relief in a defamation suit filed by Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai in connection with “cash for query” allegations.

Justice Sachin Datta asked the counsel appearing for Dubey and Dehadrai if there was any quid pro quo between Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani.

49-year-old Moitra was expelled as a Lok Sabha MP on December 08 following the Ethics panel's determination of her guilt in the matter.

Moitra had been accused of receiving cash in exchange for posing questions on behalf of businessman and friend Darshan Hiranandani. In an interview with The Indian Express, she had accepted the fact that she had provided her Parliament login and password details to Hiranandani, however, she had refuted the claim of receiving any cash from him.

Recently, Moitra dropped media outlets and social media intermediaries as defendants in the defamation suit.

During the hearing today, Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari representing Dubey and Senior Advocate Sanjoy Ghose appearing for Dehadrai submitted that there was a quid pro quo between Moitra and Hiranandani.

In support of their submission, they also referred to para 68 of the Ethics Committee's report and said that the same clearly reveals that there was a quid pro quo, due to which Mahua was even expelled from Lok Sabha.

The court then reserved the order on Moitra's interim injunction application and asked Dubey and Dehadrai's counsels to place on record the relevant portion of the Ethics Committee's report.

Summons in the suit were issued on October 17.

In the interim, Moitra has sought an ex-parte ad-interim injunction against Dubey and Dehadrai and removal of the allegedly defamatory content posted against her on social media, including photos, videos, letters and publications.

The dispute arose after Dubey wrote a complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker alleging that Moitra purportedly took bribes to ask questions in the Parliament. Dubey claimed that the genesis of the said allegations was a letter addressed to him by Dehadrai.

Moitra then sent a legal notice to Dubey, Dehadrai and media houses wherein she denied the allegations made against her.

The legal notice said that Dubey, for obtaining immediate political mileage, “regurgitated the false and defamatory allegations” in the letter written to the Speaker of the Lok Saba.

The legal notice also added that Moitra has never accepted any remuneration or cash or gift or benefit of any kind in relation to the discharge of her duties as a MP, including but not limited to, the questions raised by her in the Parliament.

Tile: MAHUA MOITRA v. NISHIKANT DUBEY & ORS.