The Lok Sabha Secretariat has apprised the Supreme Court that the writ petition filed by Trinamool Congress leader and former parliamentarian Mahua Moitra challenging her expulsion from the Lok Sabha did not hold ground as Article 122 of the Constitution allowed the Parliament to exercise its internal functions and powers without any judicial intervention.
It said the decision (to expel Moitra) arrived at by the Parliament as a sovereign organ under the Constitution after following its internal procedure cannot be tested on the basis of the doctrine of proportionality as any such exercise would be contrary to the doctrine of separation of powers, which was a basic feature of the Constitution.
The proceedings before the Parliament (and its constituents) cannot be called into question alleging any irregularity of procedure as the House of the People was the sole judge of the lawfulness of proceedings before it, added the LS Secretariat.
It also mentioned the sharing of login ID and password by Moitra with businessman Darshan Hiranandani, noting that a Member of Parliament was expected to ensure the highest standard of ethics and not permit any unauthorised or unwarranted access to any third person.
Such material was likely to have a direct nexus with the security and integrity of India. The fact of even granting access to an unauthorised third person would be a breach of such trust and amount to unethical conduct.
It further alleged that Moitra had shared the one time password (OTP) for login on 47 occasions with third parties, and the only justification that has been provided by her was that she needed ‘typographical’ assistance to type her questions on 47 occasions from someone stationed in Dubai.
As per the Secretariat, Moitra stated in her evidence before the committee that she needed secretarial assistance and hence, had shared this extremely sensitive and confidential information with someone stationed abroad. Such a defense was unfathomable, it added.
The Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, after hearing the arguments, listed the case for hearing on May 6.
Earlier in January 2024, the Bench had asked the Secretary General of Lok Sabha to file a reply to Moitra’s writ petition.
The Lok Sabha was directed to file within three weeks and a rejoinder was to be filed by the petitioner, within three weeks thereafter.
The Bench ordered that one of the issues in the matter will be the jurisdiction of the court to review the Lok Sabha’s action.
The top court of the country also refused to grant any interim relief to Moitra, who was the MP from Krishnanagar constituency in West Bengal before her expulsion.
The bench also turned down a prayer made by Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi on behalf of the petitioner to allow Moitra to attend Lok Sabha proceedings in the meantime as an interim measure.