‘Guilty of Something Far Worse’: Dehadrai, in Tussle Over Pet Dog With Mahua, Drops Cryptic Post

In a cryptic post, Jai Anant Dehadrai, the Supreme Court lawyer who Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has called a “jilted ex”, said “the person accused of corruption and compromising national security is guilty of something far worse.”

Even without taking any name, Dehadrai made it quite clear in his post on microblogging platform X that he was referring to Mahua Moitra as he said he is not talking about the theft of his dog.

“The person accused of corruption and compromising national security is guilty of something far worse – and no – I’m not talking about the theft of my dog,” Dehadrai’s X post, with a photo of him with his pet dog ‘Henry’, read.

For the unversed, three-year-old Rottweiler, Henry, has emerged as a central character in the public spat between Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai and TMC MP Mahua Moitra with the former partners having a bitter battle over who gets the custody of the dog. Henry is with Moitra at present.

The ongoing tussle between Moitra and Dehadrai over their pet dog took another turn last month when BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said he received a letter from Dehadrai, adding that the lawyer had shared “irrefutable” evidence that Moitra had taken bribes in the form of “cash” and “gifts” from business tycoon Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions in Parliament.

Jai Anant Dehadrai last week appeared before the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha to record his statement in connection with the cash-for-query allegations against Mahua Moitra.

In his complaint to Speaker Om Birla, BJP member Nishikant Dubey has cited documents shared by Dehadrai to back his cash-for-query allegations against Moitra. Birla had referred the matter to the committee headed by BJP member Vinod Kumar Sonkar.

In the letter to Birla dated October 15, Dubey said the advocate, close to Moitra before they fell out, has shared “irrefutable evidence of bribes exchanged” between her and businessman Darshan Hiranandani.

The fiery TMC member dismissed the charges as a “jilted ex’s lies”, a reference to Dehadrai.

In a fresh development in the alleged cash-for-query case, Mahua Moitra on Wednesday said she will appear before the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on November 2 but sought to “cross-examine” Jai Anant Dehadrai and businessman Darshan Hiranandani over their allegations.

(With PTI inputs)