By – Prakarsh Kastwar
The ED has filed a money laundering investigation against TMC leader Mahua Moitra.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a money laundering charge against Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra on Tuesday as part of the cash-for-query investigation.
The case was lodged in response to a FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the ousted TMC lawmaker. The ED action comes only days after the 49-year-old politician ignored the agency’s invitation to appear for questioning in its Delhi office.
The ED has summoned Moitra and businessman Darshan Hiranandani to appear in court about a potential violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
The CBI raided her home in connection with the cash-for-query issue, days after anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal asked the federal agency to look into the claims made against her by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
Moitra, who has been renominated by the TMC for the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency, was ejected from the Lok Sabha last year. She was found guilty of accepting money and gifts from Hiranandani in exchange for her Parliament login credentials.
In opposition to Adani Group, the industrialist posted queries on her behalf. First raised by lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, the complaint was later sent to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.
After questioning Nishikant Dubey, Dehadrai, and Moitra, the ethics committee recommended that she be expelled.
Moitra has denied any wrongdoing and alleges she is being targeted because she questioned the Adani Group’s transactions.
“My triumph would be a fitting response to the effort to expel and harass me” through ED and CBI raids,” she had stated, expressing confidence in her chances of winning the Lok Sabha poll. Her constituency, Krishnanagar, will vote on May 13. Vote counting will take held on June 4.