Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra vacated her government-allotted Delhi bungalow on Friday, January 19. Moitra, who was expelled as a Lok Sabha MP in December last year, had received an eviction notice from the Directorate of Estates (DoE) on Tuesday. According to Mahua Moitra’s representative, she had fully vacated the bungalow by 10 am on Friday morning and the possession was handed over by her lawyers to the Directorate of Estates. On January 18, Moitra failed to get any relief from the Delhi High Court, which refused to stay the DoE notice and asked her to vacate the government bungalow.
Justice Girish Kathpalia said no specific rule had been brought before the court which dealt with the eviction of MPs from government accommodation after they cease to be lawmakers.
Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha after an ethics panel held her guilty of “unethical conduct” for allegedly accepting gifts from businessman Darshan Hiranandani and sharing her user ID and password of the Parliament website with him. The panel had initiated a probe based on a complaint filed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey who accused Moitra of asking questions in the Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the behest of businessman Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts.