Cash-for-query: Delhi HC sets aside Lokpal order against Mahua Moitra
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court on Friday set aside an order of the Lokpal granting sanction to the CBI to file a chargesheet against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra in the alleged cash-for-query scam.
A bench of justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, while pronouncing the order in Moitra's plea, said "The order is set aside. We have requested the Lokpal to accord consideration for grant of sanction under Section 20 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act in accordance with the relevant provisions within one month".
The cash-for-query scam pertains to the allegation that Moitra had asked questions in the House in exchange for cash and gifts from a businessman.
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Moitra's counsel had contended that there was clear infirmity in the procedure adopted by the Lokpal. He had referred to Section 20(7) of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act saying it demands that comments of public servants be obtained before granting sanction.
The plea was opposed by the CBI, which had argued that Moitra has no right to produce documents in the Lokpal's proceedings and she is only entitled to give comments and not even an oral hearing.
Moitra has also sought to restrain the CBI from taking any steps in furtherance of the sanction order, including but not limited to filing any chargesheet during the pendency of the present proceedings.
The CBI in July submitted its report to the Lokpal in connection with the alleged cash-for-query scam case involving Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
The agency had registered an FIR on March 21, 2024, against the two under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act on a reference from the Lokpal.
It was alleged that Moitra indulged in corrupt practices, including, but not limited to, taking bribes and other undue advantages from Hiranandani for "compromising her parliamentary privileges and causing national security threats by sharing her Lok Sabha login credentials."
The agency has submitted its findings in the case to the Lokpal, which will decide the further course of action in the case, according to officials.
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Jitan Ram Manjhi's video triggers fresh 'vote chori' row in Bihar
Patna (PTI): A row has erupted in Bihar over a video in which Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has purportedly spoken of having "helped" a candidate who was trailing by a narrow margin in an assembly poll.
The video, which seems to have been shot in Manjhi's Lok Sabha constituency of Gaya, has been shared by the opposition RJD-Congress combine, which was drubbed in the recently held elections, as "proof of vote chori" by the BJP-led NDA.
Manjhi, however, said the video was tampered with and shared on social media.
The former Bihar chief minister, who heads the Hindustani Awam Morcha, can be heard speaking of an incident involving Tikari assembly segment, which his party's candidate Anil Kumar had won in 2020 but lost to RJD in the assembly polls held last month.
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Speaking in the local dialect Magahi, the octogenarian can be heard saying, "the candidate was trailing by 2,700 votes in the 2020 assembly polls. He called me up, and I telephoned the official concerned. Finally, he was declared the winner".
PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
"This time, the candidate lost by 1,600 votes. But instead of contacting me, he chose to concede defeat. The then DM of Gaya, who is now posted in Tripura, telephoned me to enquire what went wrong this time. I could have done nothing when the candidate chose to return home without contacting me", Manjhi can be heard as saying in the video.
The RJD, which may have wrested Tikari but has suffered a crash in its tally to only 25 from 75 five years ago, shared the video on its official X handle, claiming it as "the truth of the artificial popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi".
The opposition party alleged that Modi, aided by the Election Commission, had made in the recent elections, "an unsuccessful attempt at political assassination of our young and revolutionary leader Tejashwi Yadav".
Bihar Congress spokesman Asit Nath Tiwari echoed the sentiments and alleged, "Union home minister was all fire and brimstone inside Parliament recently while reacting to allegations of vote theft. Now, the confession of his cabinet colleague suggest that what is taking place is not vote chori but vote dacoity".
However, Manjhi came out with an angry post on his X handle claiming "a video of mine has been tampered with and shared on social media by those who think they can defame a son of a Musahar (a Mahadalit community)"
"I want to tell all such people that Manjhi has now become a brand. He is not going to be scared of anyone", added the Union minister.
When Bihar minister and former state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal was asked about the controversy, he said, "I have seen the unedited video. Manjhi was speaking about counting of votes having been stalled for several hours in 2020, after his candidate was trailing in the penultimate round by a small margin. After counting of votes was over, the candidate was declared".
