CJI to look into TMC's Mahua Moitra’s plea to expedite hearing
Though CJI Chandrachud assured Singhvi that he would look at the mail “right away”, the West Bengal MP’s legal team was yet to hear anything from the registry
Trinamool Congress member of Parliament Mahua Moitra made hectic attempts in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to get a hearing date on her petition challenging her expulsion from the Lok Sabha even as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud assured the petitioner that the court would look into the request for urgent listing.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi who appeared for the MP mentioned the matter before a bench headed by the CJI a little later than noon and said that despite a letter written to the court registry on Monday, the matter had not shown up on the list. Earlier in the day, when the CJI was sitting in a Constitution bench, Singhvi approached the court of justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul with the same request but was asked to mention the matter to the CJI. To be sure, mentioning of matters is not permitted before constitution benches.
CJI Chandrachud said, “Matter may not have been registered as otherwise it would have been listed.” Singhvi was accompanied by advocate Shadan Farasat who informed the court that a letter was written to the registry on Monday.
“Inconceivable,” the CJI remarked, saying, “I check all mails and clear it the same day.” Singhvi agreed to write another letter and urged the court to consider it expeditiously. The urgency in the matter was understandable as only two working days remain before the Supreme Court closes for the winter break after December 15.
Though justice Chandrachud assured Singhvi that he would look at the mail “right away”, the West Bengal MP’s legal team was yet to hear anything from the registry. The list of cases in the Supreme Court for Thursday did not contain Moitra’s petition filed on Saturday.
The TMC MP from Krishnanagar was expelled on Friday over cash-for-query charges. She alleged “substantial illegality” and “arbitrariness” by the House’s ethics committee, which recommended the action against her.
Moitra, a first-time member who rose to prominence with her combative speeches in the House, was expelled over her “direct involvement” in cash-for-query charges and “unethical” conduct. The Lok Sabha expelled the TMC legislator with a voice vote amid a walkout by Opposition members, adopting an ethics committee report that recommended her expulsion for sharing her login credentials and password with an unauthorised person, its impact on national security, and accepting gifts and possibly cash as “quid pro quo” from businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
Moitra, in her petition, challenged the disqualification process and pointed at how she was not allowed to defend herself in the House during a discussion on the findings of the ethics committee. She found herself embroiled in the row after BJP lawmaker Nishikant Dubey wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla in September on the basis of a complaint by lawyer Jai Anant Dehradai, who alleged the TMC legislator accepted money and favours to ask questions in Parliament.
