CBI conducts searches at premises of Mahua Moitra in connection with 'cash for query' case

The TMC leader was expelled from the Lok Sabha -- the Lower House of the Parliament -- in December 2023 over ‘unethical conduct’.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Moitra defeated BJP candidate Kalyan Chaubey by over 63,000 votes from the Krishnanagar parliamentary constituency in West Bengal and secured a 45% vote share.

The former MP has now challenged her expulsion in the Supreme Court. She will again contest the 2024 general elections as a TMC candidate from the Krishnanagar seat.

The Lokpal, the anti-corruption ombudsman, earlier issued directions to the CBI after it received the findings of its preliminary inquiry into allegations made against the TMC leader by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey.

Dubey alleged that Moitra asked questions in Lok Sabha in exchange for cash and gifts from a Dubai-based businessman, Darshan Hiranandani, to mount an attack on industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.

In its order, the Lokpal stated that after carefully evaluating and considering the entire material on record, "there remains no doubt regarding the fact that the allegations levelled against the Respondent Public Servant (RPS), most of which are supported by cogent evidence, are extremely serious in nature, especially given the position held by her."

The Lokpal stated that a "deeper probe" is required to establish the truth.