'Cash For Query' Row: Lokpal Has Ordered CBI Probe Against Mahua Moitra, Claims Nishikant Dubey; TMC MP Hits Back

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday claimed that the Lokpal has ordered a CBI probe against TMC MP Mahua Moitra. Dubey claimed that the probe has been ordered against Moitra after his complaint to the Lokpal over 'cash for query' allegations.

Moitra, responding to the development, said the CBI first needs to file an FIR against "₹13,000 crore Adani coal scam".

"For media calling me- my answer: 1. CBI needs to first file FIR on ₹13,000 crore Adani coal scam 2. National security issue is how dodgy FPI owned (inc Chinese & UAE ) Adani firms buying Indian ports & airports with @HMOIndia clearance. Then CBI welcome to come, count my shoes," the TMC MP wrote on X.

"Cash-for-query" scandal

The "cash-for-query" scandal pertains to accusations against Mahua Moitra, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) member, for allegedly receiving bribes in return for posing inquiries in Parliament. These allegations were leveled by Nishikant Dubey, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP, who claimed that Moitra had accepted payments from Darshan Hiranandani, a Dubai-based businessman, in exchange for raising parliamentary questions targeting the Adani Group.

The case is currently under investigation by the Ethics Committee, which might take cues from a similar cash-for-query case in 2005, where all 11 suspected Members of Parliament were disqualified for allegedly accepting payment for their questions.