Trinamool Leader Mahua Moitra To Skip Third Probe Agency Summons

Trinamool leader Mahua Moitra is likely to skip summons issued by Directorate of Enforcement (ED) to question her in connection with a foreign exchange violation case today. The probe agency sent its third summons to the West Bengal leader on Wednesday after she skipped the first two over scheduling conflicts.

Ms Moitra was supposed to appear before the probe agency at its Delhi office today but will instead be campaigning for her party in West Bengal's Krishnanagar. “I will be out for campaigning in the Krishnangar constituency in the afternoon,” she told reporters, news agency PTI said.

The ED wants to question her over transactions linked to a non-resident external, or NRE, account, sources said on Wednesday. Ms Moitra has denied any wrongdoing in the matter.

The former MP was expelled from Lok Sabha last year over cash-for-query allegations. She was accused of receiving "luxury gifts" and ₹ 2 crore in cash from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions critical of the government in Parliament. 

A parliamentary ethics panel had found her conduct "immoral" and "indecent" after she allegedly  shared log-in details to her parliament MP account with Mr Hiranandani. The account was also allegedly accessed multiple times overseas.

Mr Hiranandani has also been called for questioning in a case related to his Mumbai-based real estate group. Earlier his father, Niranjan Hiranandani, was also questioned.

On Saturday, the former MP's Kolkata home was searched by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the cash-for-query case after it registered an FIR against Mahua Moitra.

Last week, the anti-corruption body Lokpal asked the central agency to probe the allegations against her and submit a report in six months.