Rejecting PA Sangma’s claim and objection, the government on Monday said that UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee resigned as chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) a week before he filed his nomination in the President’s Election and does not hold any office of profit.
“He (Mukherjee) had resigned as chairman, ISI, on June 20, a week before he filed his nominations,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal said shortly after Sangma’s camp filed a petition seeking cancellation of the UPA’s candidate’s nomination on grounds of holding an office of profit.
Bansal, the authorised representative of Mukherjee, said he and Home Minister P Chidambaram met Mukherjee after Sangma’s claim and they were told by him of his resignation well in advance of filing the nomination.
“Pranab Mukherjee would be filing a written reply to the Returning Officer by 3 pm tomorrow,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said.
Bansal said Sangma’s claim was factually incorrect, legally ill-conceived and untenable.
—-PTI—