Delhi High Court defers to January 4 hearing on TMC leader Mahua Moitra’s plea against order to vacate accommodation

New Delhi, December 19

The Delhi High Court said on Tuesday it will take up on January 4 TMC leader Mahua Moitra’s petition challenging cancellation of allotment of government quarters to her following her expulsion from the Lok Sabha.

Justice Subramonium Prasad took note of the fact that the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear on January 3 her petition against expulsion from the Lok Sabha.

“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,” Justice Prasad told senior advocate Pinaki Misra who represented Moitra.

Moitra — who represented West Bengal’s Krishnanagar constituency in the Lok Sabha — has challenged the December 11 order of the Directorate of Estates asking her to vacate the official accommodation by January 7.

In the alternative, she wanted the court to allow her to retain the accommodation till the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were declared.

Misra said she was only seeking to retain possession of the government accommodation till May 31, 2024.

However, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and central government standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia opposed her plea on behalf of the Directorate of Estates.

Moitra was indicted for “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.