27 March,2024 03:04 PM IST | Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Mahua Moitra/ PTI
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reissued summons to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra and Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani for questioning in a case involving Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations. The interrogation is slated for March 28, according to sources from the organisation, reported PTI.
According to the PTI report, despite being summoned twice before, Moitra who was the TMC MP from Krishnanagar, aged 49, did not appear for questioning citing official obligations and requested a postponement of the summons.
Reportedly, both Moitra and Hiranandani have been directed to appear for questioning at the federal agency's office in Delhi on Thursday.
However, it is pertinent to note that Darshan Hiranandani had also been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection to another FEMA case involving his Mumbai-based real estate firm. His father Niranjan Hiranandani had previously appeared before the ED in Mumbai to be interrogated.
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In the ongoing inquiry, the ED reportedly quizzed a lawyer purportedly affiliated with Moitra on Wednesday at its Delhi headquarters, the PTI report added.
Mahua Moitra was ousted from the Lok Sabha in December last year for 'unethical counduct' and she has been renominated from Trinamool Congress to represent West Bengal's Krishnagar constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had accused Moitra of collecting cash and gifts from Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for raising questions in Parliament against businessman Gautam Adani and his connection with BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he had come under the scanner following Hindenburg report accusing it of stock manipulation and other practices, reported PTI.
Recently, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), according to the news agency, raided the premises of Moitra in connection with the cash-for-query case.
According to the report, the ED is looking into transactions related to a non-resident external (NRE) account, as well as other foreign remittances and financial transfers, in connection with the case. Moitra has, however, denied any wrongdoing and alleges that she is being persecuted for challenging the Adani Group's arrangements.
