‘Cash-for-query’ case: CBI searches premises linked to Mahua Moitra

“The CBI came home & to my election offices today. Were very polite. Searched. Found nothing,” Moitra posted on ‘X’ at night.

Moitra has been accused of accepting cash to ask questions on behalf of businessman and friend Darshan Hiranandani. In an interview to The Indian Express on October 27, Moitra admitted she gave her Parliament login and password details to Hiranandani but denied taking any cash from him, as alleged by Supreme Court advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai in his complaint to the CBI.

On December 8, Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha, which adopted the report of its ethics committee that found her “guilty of unethical conduct” and called for “an intense, legal institutional inquiry” by the government “in a time-bound manner”.

“One team carried out searches at Moitra’s residence in Kolkata, while another team conducted searches at her apartment/office in Krishnanagar in West Bengal’s Nadia district,” said a CBI source. “All the CBI teams were accompanied by paramilitary personnel. They also conducted searches at an apartment in Alipore area where her father has been residing for several years,” said the source.

Moitra represented the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat, and has been fielded from the same constituency by the TMC for the coming polls. According to local sources, the CBI team remained at Moitra’s party office in Krishnanagar for about three-and-a-half hours.

CBI sources said the plan to conduct the searches was outlined on Friday evening, and the agency coordinated with the central armed police forces. A decision was taken to conduct simultaneous searches, which began early on Saturday. “We are conducting searches along with cyber experts to verify and seize some technical evidence,” sources said.

The CBI has already conducted a preliminary enquiry in the case, and submitted this report to the Lokpal. The Lokpal took up the matter on a complaint from BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who also initiated the complaint against Moitra in Parliament.

(X/@MahuaMoitra)

“After careful evaluation and consideration of the entire material on record, there remains no doubt regarding the fact that the allegations levelled against the RPS (respondent public servant), most of which are supported by cogent evidence, are extremely serious in nature, especially in view of the position held by her. Therefore, in our considered opinion, a deeper probe is required to establish the truth,” the Lokpal had said in its order earlier this week.

The order, however, stated that the CBI, in its preliminary enquiry report, had not been able to substantiate that an amount of Rs 2 crore was paid by Hiranandani to Moitra for asking questions in Parliament. But it held that the evidence was not found because of the limited scope of investigations in a preliminary enquiry, and thus further investigation was required.

TMC’s Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen said the CBI searches were an attempt to divert attention. “BJP understands growing public discontent against it, and is therefore using such means to change the narrative. It is nothing but political vendetta. Also, while the model code of conduct is in place, the BJP is sending its most trusted allies, the CBI and ED, to raid our nominees. The EC must look into this,” said Sen.

Responding to this, BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya said: “Whatever Moitra has done is a shame for democracy. The TMC is deeply mired in corruption. Everyone in the party is facing corruption-related allegations… Every time a central agency takes any action, they start calling it vendetta.”