Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra once again chose not to comply with the third summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate concerning discrepancies in a Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) contravention case.
According to sources, Mahua avoided the summons, citing her engagement in campaign activities in West Bengal’s Krishnanagar.
This marks the third instance wherein Mahua has failed to appear before investigators, avoiding the summonses pertaining to the case. Moitra was directed to participate in the investigation concerning the matter and attend the investigators at the ED headquarters in Delhi today. The recent summonses ensued the preceding two summonses when she disregarded the investigation and abstained from appearing before the investigators on March 11 and February 19, 2024.
Moitra has been asked to participate in the probe with certain documents concerning foreign investments associated with the case. The agency intends to interrogate Moitra in the case under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999. The ED investigators seek to document her statement linked to the case. The 49-year-old politician is also under scrutiny by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a preliminary inquiry into the allegations against her based on the referral from Lokpal. It is understood that the ED case is founded upon the reference from the CBI case.
The TMC Leader has found herself embroiled in controversy since Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey accused her of posing questions in the Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the instigation of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts.
Dubey had additionally alleged that Moitra compromised national security for monetary gains. Moitra faced expulsion as a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) on December 8 following the Ethics panel’s determination of her guilt in the ‘cash-for-query’ case. Moitra has refuted any wrongdoing and asserted she is being targeted for raising questions on the Adani Group’s deals. “Neither has Lok Pal uploaded any referral order on the website as per the Lokpal Act nor has CBI put out anything official. ‘Sources’ telling journos as per the usual media circus. Hope Rs 13,000 crore Adani coal scam merits CBI PE before my witchhunt,” Moitra had stated on X in November. Moitra had also approached the Supreme Court challenging her expulsion from the lower house of Parliament in connection with the ‘cash-for-query’ allegations.
