"Attempts Made To Coerce...": Advocate Writes To Cops In Mahua Moitra Case

The Supreme Court lawyer who had written to the CBI and a BJP MP alleging that he had evidence of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra accepting bribes from a businessman to ask questions in parliament, has now sent a letter to the Delhi Police commissioner claiming that he anticipates "a very serious threat to his life" because of the complaint.

Jai Anant Dehadrai has also claimed a direct attempt was made to coerce him into withdrawing his complaint and threats of harming his reputation were made if he did not agree.

Mr Dehadrai, who Ms Moitra has called her "jilted ex", was reportedly in a relationship with the Trinamool MP and the two have allegedly not been on the best terms since they parted ways. One of the reasons for the friction between them is their pet dog, a Rottweiler named Henry. Both have accused the other of 'stealing' Henry and a battle for his custody is being fought in court. The dog is currently with Ms Moitra.

In his letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora on Saturday, Mr Dehadrai has said he was writing under "extremely distressing circumstances" and was anticipating a threat to his life because of his complaint dated October 14 against Ms Moitra and others, which he had submitted to the CBI and to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. 

The lawyer alleged that, on Thursday, a direct attempt was made to coerce him into withdrawing his complaint. 

"Threats of reputational harm were also conveyed in case I did not agree. The very specific demand was that I should unconditionally withdraw both the complaints in which very serious allegations pertaining to national security and corruption have been alleged by me against Smt. Moitra and others. It was stated that my pet Rottweiler Henry would be returned by Ms. Moitra to me if I agreed to withdraw the said complaints," Mr Dehadrai wrote. 

‘Pressured A Cop'

Mr Dehadrai alleged that his concerns were serious, given the Trinamool MP's “history of misusing her influence and political clout to browbeat and intimidate opponents”.  He claimed that she had attempted to “extort” Henry from him by filing two “bogus” complaints against him with the Barakhamba Road Police Station in Delhi. 

The lawyer alleged that Ms Moitra pressured the Station House Officer of the police station to “browbeat him into giving up the lawful ownership of Henry” over to her. He claimed the policeman was innocent as he was being “threatened” by the Trinamool MP but said that he must come clean on his role.

“When I succumbed and sent Henry to Smt. Moitra on 04.10.2023, she immediately signed a letter not only unconditionally withdrawing her so-called complaints against me, but also explicitly asking the police not to take any action against me. Thus, given the extremely dangerous and dubious antecedents of Ms. Moitra and her accomplices, I anticipate an attack on my life,” the lawyer said. 

‘Attempts To Stop Me From Deposing'

The Supreme Court lawyer said he was apprehensive that “certain quarters” might attempt to prevent him from deposing before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on October 26 as well as before investigating agencies. To back up this claim, he said he had received several “strange messages” from unknown numbers on his personal phone as well as three phone calls from a “No Caller ID” number on Friday. 

“Given the strange occurrences that have been going on, I fear for the well-being of my Chamber colleagues and myself. As I possess extremely sensitive evidence and material pertaining to this case, there is every likelihood that attempts could be made to either destroy this material or obtain it from me under threat of bodily harm. I therefore humbly request you to assess the threats in question and provide adequate protection, as you deem fit,” the letter stated. 

Lawyer Withdraws

On Friday, Ms Moitra's lawyer Gopal Sankarnarayan had withdrawn from the defamation case filed by her against Mr Dehadrai and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey in the Delhi High Court after Mr Dehadrai had alleged that he had contacted him over phone the previous night for withdrawing his complaint to the CBI against the Trinamool MP. 

The judge had said he was "appalled" and asked whether Mr Sankaranarayanan was still eligible to appear in the matter since he had tried to play the role of a mediator. 

In an affidavit, businessman Darshan Hiranandani had claimed that Ms Moitra had given him her parliament login ID to frame questions on the Adani group, which she felt was the "only way" to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The businessman claimed Ms Moitra wanted to quickly make a name for herself at the national level and she was told by her friends and advisors that the shortest possible route to fame was by personally attacking PM Modi.

Ms Moitra has denied the allegations.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)