Mahua Moitra said Directorate of Estates' order been issued following her expulsion from Lok Sabha
Reportedly the delhi high court said on tuesday it will hear january 4 TMC leader Mahua Moitra’s petition challenging the cancellation of allotment of government quarters to her following her expulsion from the lok sabha, after noting that the supreme court was scheduled to hear her plea against dismissal from parliament on january 3. Justice Subramonium prasad said since Moitra has challenged her expulsion from the lok sabha before the supreme court in a separate petition, any order passed by the high court would amount to impinging on the apex court proceedings.
Justice prasad said “You have challenged the order (of expulsion) by filing a writ petition. One of the prayers can also be for a stay of the order, in the interim application. If the supreme court grants a stay, consequences will follow which will include your suspension will be stayed. If you are inviting this court to pass an order, it will be directly impinging upon the matter pending in the supreme court in the writ petition. The supreme court opens on january 2 so, we will hear it on january 4”.
Moreover as the counsel for Moitra urged the high court to direct the Directorate of Estates, which has passed the order cancelling the allotment, to file a reply to the petition before january 4, the high court said it will consider the prayer during the next hearing that day. The petition has sought the Directorate of Estates’ december 11 order to be set aside. In the alternative, it has sought the court’s direction for allowing Moitra to retain possession of the accommodation till the results of the 2024 lok sabha elections are declared. Senior advocate Pinaki Misra, appearing for Moitra, submitted that the petitioner was only seeking to retain possession of the government accommodation till May 31, 2024. Additional Solicitor General chetan sharma and central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia represented the Directorate of Estates. Moitra was held guilty of “unethical conduct” and expelled from the lok sabha on december 8, 2023, for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the parliament website with him.