Mahua cleared her stand on bribery charges, TMC waiting for report of Parl panel probe: Derek
Kolkata (PTI): The Trinamool Congress on Sunday said since its MP Mahua Moitra has already clarified her stand on allegations of bribe for questions raised, the party would now now await the probe by the parliamentary ethics committee as the matter has to do with "her rights and privileges".
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai have alleged that Moitra had accepted favours from Hiranandani in exchange for raising questions in Parliament. In response, Moitra filed a defamation suit against them before the Delhi High Court. Dubey's complaint has been referred to Parliament's Ethics Committee by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
TMC has tried to distance itself from the controversy.
Rajya Sabha MP O'Brien told PTI Video, "The member concerned has been advised by the party leadership to clarify her position regarding the allegations levelled against her. She has already done that."
"However, since the matter has to do with an elected MP, her rights and privileges, let the matter be investigated by the right forum of Parliament, after which the party leadership will take an appropriate decision," he added.
Darshan Hiranandani, the CEO of real estate-to-energy group Hiranandani, who allegedly paid Moitra to raise questions in Parliament about Adani Group, recently claimed in a signed affidavit that she targeted Gautam Adani to "malign and embarrass Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose impeccable reputation gave opposition no opportunity to attack him".
Vinod Sonkar, the chairman of the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee, had said he had received the sworn-in affidavit from Hiranandani.
Moitra, however, has raised questions over the credibility of Hiranandani's affidavit, alleging that it was "drafted by the PMO" and he was forced to sign it after being "threatened" with "total shut down" of his family's businesses.
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Police refused to file FIR in Baramati plane crash; our suspicion growing stronger, says Rohit Pawar
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday claimed that the Mumbai police refused to file an FIR in connection with the plane crash, in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was killed, and said the refusal has deepened the suspicion surrounding the accident.
The government and the machinery appeared to be protecting someone, he alleged.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday directed the grounding of four aircraft of VSR Ventures, whose plane crashed at Baramati on January 28, killing Ajit Pawar and four others.
Following the crash of the Learjet 45 aircraft (VT-SSK), the aviation regulator had ordered a special safety audit of VSR Ventures, and the audit team observed several non-compliances of approved procedures in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations.
In a message posted on a social media platform, Rohit Pawar claimed, "While awaiting appropriate action regarding Ajitdada's plane crash, yesterday the DGCA report arrived stating that this accident was caused by the negligence of VSR company."
However, since no FIR has been filed in this regard, he along with party MLC Amol Mitkari, Idris Naikwadi and MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar, went to the Marine Drive police station in south Mumbai to demand registration of an FIR under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he said.
He claimed that when the process to record his statement began, a senior police official refused to register the FIR and instead accepted their application merely as a formality.
"The conduct of the police has further intensified our suspicion regarding the plane crash. If even after demands by elected representatives from both the opposition and the ruling parties the police are discarding the demand to register an FIR, it is unfortunate for Maharashtra," Pawar, who represents the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district, said in the post.
The government and the machinery appeared to be protecting someone, he alleged, and questioned whether Ajit Pawar would get justice if such a situation persisted.
The NCP (SP) legislator said they would not relent until the matter is taken to its logical conclusion.
He added that at 9 am on Thursday, all those who love his uncle Ajit Pawar would go to the Baramati taluka police station to press for registration of an FIR.
While the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to come out with its preliminary report into the fatal crash before February 28, concerns have been raised in certain quarters claiming there could have been a conspiracy that led to the crash.
