New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued summons to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra on a petition filed by Advocate Jai Ananth Dehadrai, seeking compensation of rupees two crore over various defamatory and libelous statements allegedly made by Moitra against Dehadrai in the media. In the lawsuit filed through lawyer Mukesh Sharma, Dehadrai said after he filed a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with respect to Moitra receiving illegal gratification for unauthorisedly providing her Lok Sabha login credentials to a third party, she "embarked on a ceaseless campaign of slander and abuse" to disseminate "false, abusive, and defamatory statements'' against him.

Justice Prateek Jalan sought the stand of the expelled Lok Sabha MP on lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai's plea seeking interim relief with respect to the publication of the alleged objectionable content on social and digital media, news agency PTI reported. Dehadrai's counsel reportedly said he was losing business and clients as a lawyer on account of Moitra's statements on social media.

The court questioned Dehadrai's counsel on the urgency to seek an interim order at this stage without awaiting Moitra's reply, adding it was not a case of victim and perpetrator as both were "warring parties" and the content was published over two months ago.

"This is as much your doing as anyone else. It is very difficult to paint yourself as a victim. You are both warring parties. There is no victim or perpetrator," Justice Jalan remarked, according to PTI. "These are cases where half of the battle is fought in court and half the battle is fought elsewhere," the judge reportedly added. The high court has set the next hearing on April 8.

Earlier, on Tuesday, anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal had directed the CBI to investigate the cash-for-query allegations against Moitra, and submit findings before it within six months, PTI reported, citing the order. 

The Lokpal directive came while deciding a complaint by BJP leader Nishikant Dubey alleging that Moitra had asked questions in the Lok Sabha in exchange for cash and gifts from Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani to mount an attack on industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.

Moitra, who was expelled from the Lok Sabha in December last year for “unethical conduct”, has moved the Supreme Court challenging her expulsion. She has been renominated by the TMC as its candidate from the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal.