Mahua Moitra Trial
Memory loss, Desi Ghee & the issue of locus
Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, who has accused Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra of misusing her parliamentary privilege by asking questions in parliament in exchange for gifts and cash, went through some intense grilling at the parliamentary ethics committee hearing. In the course of his cross-examination, Dehadrai reportedly claimed not to remember nearly a dozen points he had mentioned in his affidavit. When he continued to give “I do not remember” as the staple answer, an MP asked him if the affidavit was prepared by him or by someone else.
The chairman of the committee intervened at this point and told Dehadrai, “aap zyada pareshan na hon… aapne purana desi ghee nahi khaya hai, is liye kam yaad hai… jo kuch aap ko pataa tha, bataa diya.” (Don’t fret so much. You haven’t eaten desi ghee, that’s why you remember so little. You’ve already shared with us what you know). Opposition members objected to the chairman’s intervention in the complainant’s defence. Dehadrai was then asked about his claim in his affidavit that he did not know Nishikant Dubey, the BJP MP who had referred his complaint to the Lok Sabha Speaker.
He reaffirmed that he did not know Dubey. At this, a member informed the committee that he had seen the complainant talking to Dubey at several social gatherings, including at a party at Member of Parliament Jayadev Galla’s 50, Ashoka Road residence as well as at the birthday party of the child of another MP, Ritesh Pandey. Dehadrai replied saying that he had accompanied Mahua Moitra to these parties and met a lot of people whom he did not know. On his friendship and fallout with Mahua, the complainant was asked if it is true that a police complaint was lodged against him for trespassing and theft. He answered in the affirmative. A member then raised a question about his locus standi saying the complainant has had a personal problem with Mahua and has made the allegations against her to settle scores.
“Samasya gharelu hai, aur is pe committee baithi hai” (the issue before this committee is basically a domestic matter between the complainant and the defendant), said one member. Another MP asked him if he was behind leaking Mahua’s party pictures on the social media. This member showed some of the pictures to the committee members. The chairman objected to the display of the pictures saying, “garima ke neeche baat nahi honi chahiye” (Please maintain dignity). The member responded by saying that he is on the point of locus standi of the complainant. The chairman told the member, who was grilling Dehadrai, that he appears to be biased against the complainant. He told Dehadrai, “You have frankly answered all the questions. If you have any additional information, it can be sent to the secretariat”. The chairman also referred to Mahua’s police complaint as a “fake” complaint. Some members raised strong objections to the chairman’s remarks and the meeting ended with a member from South India accusing the chairman of trying to defend the accused and “making a mockery of the trial”.
Rajasthan imbroglio
Congress leadership gives in to Gehlot’s demand
The Congress high command had decided to send a stern message to party rebels across the country by denying nomination to Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s closest ministers, Shanti Dhariwal and Mahesh Joshi. The two ministers had prevented central observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken from meeting the state MLAs last year when they were sent to Jaipur to explore the possibility of change of chief minister. Sources said Gehlot lobbied hard for their ticket but the party high command, especially Rahul Gandhi, was firm on denying them nomination for defying the high command. While Joshi’s Hawa Mahal seat has been given to district party president RR Tiwari, the party gave in to Gehlot’s demand and allotted the Kota North seat to Dhariwal. Sources said Mahesh Joshi is now in talks with the AAP and BSP to contest as their candidate. The possibility of his contesting as an independent is not ruled out. Sources said the chief minister is likely to lend his support to Joshi if he fights as an independent.