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The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it would hear on November 21, a plea by Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra challenging a Lokpal granting sanction to the Central Bureau of Investigation to file a chargesheet against her in the alleged cash for query scam. A bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar listed the matter for Friday to enable it to go through the Lokpal's order, which has been placed before it in a sealed cover. Moitra, in her plea, has sought the setting aside of the November 12 order of the Lokpal of India by which sanction was granted to the CBI, claiming that it was erroneous, de hors the provisions of the Lokpal Act and a gross violation of principles of natural justice. The plea alleged that arguments and submissions were invited from her and then completely ignored before issuing the sanction order under the Lokpal Act, on the ground that they were premature and would be considered at a subsequent stage. It said the sanction order reduce
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would hear on October 14 TMC MP Mahua Moitra's plea to mandate public disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners and portfolios of alternative investment funds (AIFs), foreign portfolio investors and their intermediaries in India. The plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Moitra, said they have filed the reply received from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on the detailed representation made by the petitioner on the issue. The top court on April 1 asked Moitra to make a detailed representation to the SEBI on the issue. Bhushan said they have also filed their response to the reply received from SEBI last month. "You amend your writ petition," the bench said. Bhushan, while referring to the prayer made in the plea, said the SEBI's response to the representation does not answer the problem. He said amending the petition was not necessary as the
Senior Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee on Monday resigned as the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha alleging that he was being blamed unfairly for lack of coordination among MPs even as some barely attend Parliament. The move came hours after a virtual meeting of TMC MPs chaired by party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, where she reportedly expressed her displeasure over poor coordination in the party's parliamentary wing. "I have quit as the party's chief whip in Lok Sabha as 'Didi' (Mamata Banerjee) said during the virtual meeting that there is a lack of coordination among party MPs. So the blame is on me. Hence, I have decided to step down," Banerjee told a news channel. The four-time MP from Sreerampur, who is also a senior advocate, said he felt humiliated that the party was not holding those responsible for indiscipline and poor attendance to account, but instead making him the fall guy. "Those whom Mamata Banerjee made MPs don't even come to Lok
The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked TMC MP Mahua Moitra to make a detailed representation to the SEBI on mandating public disclosure of portfolio holdings of alternative investment funds and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma passed the order while hearing Moitra's plea for a direction to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to mandate public disclosure of ultimate beneficial owners and portfolio of alternative investment funds (AIFs), FPIs and their intermediaries in India. While disposing of Moitra's plea, the bench said once such a representation would be made, the same be considered in accordance with law. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for Moitra, said the regulations of SEBI require normal mutual funds and other investors to disclose who were these people who were investing, in which companies they were investing. "So far as these two categories (AIFs and FPIs) are concerned, no disclosure is ...
TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday termed as "anti-constitutional" the draft UGC regulations for selection of vice chancellors in Central and state universities. Demanding a rollback of the criteria of the search-and-selection committee of vice chancellors of state-aided universities, Moitra said during Zero Hour that there is no state-government representative in the committee even though states pay completely for the state-run universities. The draft UGC regulation, 2025, which seeks to replace the UGC regulation 2018, is "over-centralised, anti-constitutional and anti-federal", Moitra said. According to the draft regulations, industry experts, as well as senior professionals from public administration, public policy and public sector undertakings, might soon be eligible for appointment as vice chancellors. The draft norms have also given power to chancellors or visitors to constitute the three-member search-cum-selection committee to appoint vice chancellors. The new guidelines wil
TMC MP Mahua Moitra accused the BJP-led Centre on Friday of "bleeding the Constitution from a thousand cuts" and said it is crystal clear that the political executive has "systematically eroded democracy" over the last 10 years. Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on 75 years of the Constitution, Moitra asserted that the need of the hour is to ensure that the idea of India survives in its purest form. For a significant part of her speech, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP trained her guns on former chief justice of India D Y Chandrachud, without naming him, and said what troubles the opposition is that some members of the higher judiciary appear to be doing their best to compromise the independence and integrity of the country's constitutional courts. "The outgoing CJI waxed eloquent on how the right to bail has been granted during his tenure.... From A for Arnab to Z for Zubair, his alphabets seem to be abbreviated because it did not include G for Gulfisha Fatima, did not ...
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's reference to the death of judge B H Loya "long before his time" created uproar in Lok Sabha on Friday as Union minister Kiren Rijiju accused her of raising a matter settled by the Supreme Court, and warned of "appropriate parliamentary action". Participating in a debate on 75 years of the Indian Constitution, Moitra made a passing, but contentious, remarks on Loya's death as she attacked the ruling BJP for allegedly targeting institutions and opposition leaders to silence critical voices. The House was adjourned briefly twice due to the uproar over the matter. BJP member Nishikant Dubey first raised the issue after her speech was over. He also objected to her criticism of former chief justice of India D Y Chandrachud, who recently retired, for a host of reasons, including receiving Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence during the Ganapati festival. Dubey accused Moitra of making insinuation about Loya's death. Rijiju said the case is .
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Friday said she has filed a complaint against SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch with the Lokpal and added the ombudsman should forward it to the ED or CBI for preliminary probe followed by a "full FIR enquiry". Moitra shared a screenshot of submission of both the online complaint and the physical copy. "My Lokpal complaint against Ms. Puri-Buch been filed electronically and in physical form. Lokpal must within 30 days refer it to CBI/ED for a preliminary investigation and then a full FIR enquiry," Moitra said. "Every single entity involved needs to be summoned and every link investigated," she added. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP also tagged Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera in the post. Hindenburg Research, a US-based short-shelling firm, had first levelled the allegation of conflict of interest against Buch. She had categorically denied the allegation. The Congress has also made a series of allegations of irregularities agai
Delhi Police has registered an FIR against TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra for her "derogatory" social media post on National Commission for Women chief Rekha Sharma. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader commented on a video posted on X that showed Sharma arriving at the site of a stampede in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras. Moitra later deleted the post. The original post showed a man holding an umbrella and walking behind the National Commission for Women (NCW) chief.