‘Conflict of interest’: Mahua Moitra’s lawyer withdraws from defamation suit against BJP MP, media

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan has withdrawn from appearing for TMC MP Mahua Moitra in her defamation suit against a BJP MP, 15 media houses, and others.

Bar and Bench reported that “high drama” took place in connection with this at the Delhi High Court.

The BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, had complained to the Lok Sabha speaker on October 15 that Moitra purportedly “took bribes” to “ask questions” in Parliament, purportedly to “protect the interests of a businessman, Darshan Hiranandani”. 

A lawyer named Jai Dehadrai also filed an affidavit with the CBI to probe these “cash for query” allegations.

Soon after, Moitra filed a defamation suit against Dubey, Dehadrai, and media houses that had reported the “cash for query” allegations. 

Moitra said that Dehadrai, whom she described as a “jilted ex”, had a “personal vendetta” against her and had “issued a letter” to Dubey with “entirely imaginary allegations”.

When the high court hearing began, Livelaw reported that Dehadrai told the court that Moitra’s lawyer Sankaranarayan “contacted him last night and asked him to withdraw his CBI complaint in exchange for custody of dog Henry”.

Dehadrai called this a “very serious conflict of interest”. It should be noted that Henry is a dog over whom Moitra and Dehadrai fought for custody.

Justice Sachin Datta said he was “really appalled” if Sankaranayanan had been in contact with Dehadrai. “You tried to play the role of mediator,” he reportedly said. “Are you then eligible to still appear in this matter? It’s something you need to answer yourself. It’s your call.”

The lawyer then said he was withdrawing from the case.

‘Every effort made to malign me’.

Meanwhile, the Hiranandani Group said earlier this week that there was “no merit” in Dubey’s allegations. “We have always been in the business of business and not in the business of politics,” a spokesperson said.

But yesterday, Darshan Hiranandani, CEO of the Hiranandani Group, submitted an affidavit to the Lok Sabha ethics committee alleging Moitra “provided me her Parliament login and password” so he could “post the questions directly on her behalf when required”. This was purportedly to “keep supporting her in her attacks on the Adani Group”.

Moitra issued a statement saying the draft of this letter was “sent by the PMO and he was forced to sign it”. Describing Darshan as a “dear friend”, she said the letter was “leaked to the press immediately”. 

“This is the usual modus operandi of the BJP government or rather Gautam Adani’s government run by the BJP. Every effort is being made to malign me and isolate and scare those near and dear to me,” the statement said.

But who is Jai Dehadrai, whose allegations lie at the heart of this controversy? Newslaundry did a little digging and found he’s a former Times of India columnist and has an online hot-take for every topic under the sun. Read about it here.