India's parliament has expelled an opposition lawmaker who was
accused of taking bribes in exchange for asking questions.
Mahua Moitra, who has denied the allegations, said she was
expelled "without proof".
She has the option to challenge the decision in court.
Friday's expulsion followed a resolution passed by lawmakers in
the Lok Sabha - lower house of parliament - after a voice vote.
Earlier in the day, an ethics panel report that recommended Ms
Moitra's expulsion was tabled in the house. Opposition lawmakers had asked for
more time to study the almost-500-page report before debating it, but the
speaker did not agree to this.
"Heavens would not have fallen had we been given three-four
days to take cognisance of this report and then keep our opinions before the
house because it is going to make a decision on a very sensitive matter,"
Congress MP Manish Tewari said during the debate.
Ms Moitra is from the Trinamool Congress, which is in power in
West Bengal state. She is known to be a fierce critic of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has a majority in the
Lok Sabha.
Her party colleagues had held a protest in the house on Friday,
raising slogans in Ms Moitra's defence. The session was adjourned for an hour
before lawmakers reassembled for the debate.
Trinamool Congress leaders called the report an
"eyewash" and repeated their stance that the bribery allegation was
unfounded. They and other opposition leaders have alleged that Ms Moitra was
targeted for her criticism of Mr Modi's party.
Speaker Om Birla did not allow Ms Moitra to speak in the house
on Friday, saying that she had been given the chance to defend herself in front
of the ethics committee. Ms Moitra had walked out during questioning by the
committee, accusing them of "unethical, sordid and prejudiced
behaviour".
The controversy began in October when BJP MP Nishikant Dubey
filed a complaint against Ms Moitra, alleging that she had asked several
questions targeting the Adani Group - a conglomerate owned by one of Asia's
richest men, Gautam Adani - in exchange for gifts and cash from a businessman
called Darshan Hiranandani.
Mr Adani is perceived as being close to Mr Modi and has long
faced allegations from opposition politicians that he has benefited from his
political ties, which the businessman and the BJP deny.
Earlier this year, a US-based short-seller Hindenburg had
accused Mr Adani of engaging in decades of
"brazen" stock manipulation and accounting fraud. The Adani Group has
denied these allegations, calling the report "malicious".
In his complaint, Mr Dubey claimed that "until quite
recently", 50 of 61 questions Ms Moitra asked in the Lok Sabha were
focused on the Adani Group and accused her of accepting bribes adding up to 20m
rupees ($240,542; £197,700) from Mr Hiranandani. Ms Moitra has strongly denied
this.
The BJP leader alleged he had received "irrefutable
evidence" against Ms Moitra from an advocate named Jai Anant Dehadrai -
whom Ms Moitra has described as a "jilted ex".
Mr Hiranandani also submitted an affidavit before the ethics
committee, accusing the TMC leader of targeting Mr Adani "for becoming
famous". Ms Moitra questioned the authenticity of the affidavit, but Mr
Hiranandani said he had signed it "voluntarily".
Mr Dubey's complaint also accused Ms Moitra of sharing her
parliamentary login credentials with Mr Hiranandani so that he "could post
questions directly on her behalf when required".
Ms Moitra admitted that she had given her login details to the
businessman, but said that she had not violated any rules in doing so.
She has filed defamation cases against Mr Dubey and Mr Dehadrai
in the Delhi high court.
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