Cash For Questions Row: MP Mahua Moitra Drops Defamation Suit Against Media Outlets, Social Media Intermediaries

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that she is not pressing any relief against various media outlets and social media intermediaries in her defamation suit against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai.

Moitra had made 15 media outlets and 03 social media intermediaries namely X, YouTube and Google, as defendants in the suit.

Moitra’s counsel also informed Justice Sachin Datta that no interim relief is being pressed in the matter today against Dubey and Dehadrai.

Accordingly, the court asked Moitra’s lawyer to file an amended memo of parties and listed the matter for hearing on December 05.

During the hearing, Advocate Abhimanyu Bhandari appearing for Dubey submitted that Moitra has committed perjury and that she also shared her parliament login credentials.

However, the matter was re-notified for hearing as Moitra’s counsel said that no interim relief was being pressed for today.

Moitra has filed the defamation suit against Dubey and Dehadrai over “false and defamatory allegations” against her that she demanded bribe for asking questions in Parliament.

Earlier, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan withdrew from appearing for Moitra amid claims regarding his 'conflict of interest'.

Moitra had sought to restrain Dubey, Dehadrai and media from publishing or posting any “false defamatory content” against her on any online or offline platform. She also sought public apology from Dubey and Dehradrai in three English, Hindi and Bengali newspapers each.

Summons in the suit were issued on October 17. The court had also issued notice on Moitra’s application seeking interim relief and listed the matter for hearing today in view of the urgency emphasised by her lawyer.

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

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.

“Not only did Noticee No. 1 (Dubey) relay, endorse and exaggerate the false, baseless and per se defamatory allegations against our Client (Moitra), but also proceeded to leak the same to members of the media. Noticee No. 1 and 2 (Dubey and Dehadrai) are both directly responsible for defaming and maligning the reputation and goodwill of our Client for their own respective personal and political vendettas,” the legal notice said.

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.

“Noticee Nos. 1 and 2’s attempts to link the questions raised by our Client to any private persons is laughable and the alleged links themselves highlight that Noticee Nos. 1 and 2 are clutching at straws, reeks of desperation and lacks any specificity regarding evidence / material particulars,” the legal notice said.

Tile: MAHUA MOITRA v. NISHIKANT DUBEY & ORS.