'Pranab does not hold office of profit'

Rejecting Sangma's objection, govt says Pranab resigned as Chairman of ISI a week before he filed his nomination

Rejecting P A Sangma's claim and objection, government today said that the 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 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 P K Bansal told PTI 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.