Will move SC, if his resignation not accepted: Phoolka to Speaker

HS Phoolka had resigned as MLA in October and had later met the Punjab Assembly speaker, urging him to accept his resignation. He had stepped down to press for immediate action against those involved in desecrating the Guru Grant Sahib in the state in 2015.

Chandigarh (Punjab): Senior lawyer HS Phoolka, who had resigned as AAP legislator from the Punjab assembly last year, on Sunday wrote to the speaker saying he will have to move the Supreme Court if his resignation is not accepted.

"In the event, you do not take any decision on my resignation, I will be constrained to approach the Supreme Court of India," the MLA from Dakha constituency wrote to the assembly speaker.

Phoolka had resigned as MLA in October and had later met the assembly speaker, urging him to accept his resignation.

Phoolka had earlier too written to Speaker Rana KP Singh saying he will not have a rethink over his resignation. He had earlier said the speaker had assured him that he would take a considered decision on his resignation.

It was earlier believed that the lawmaker had not submitted his resignation in a proper format.

Phoolka had stepped down to press for immediate action against those involved in desecrating the Guru Grant Sahib in the state in 2015.

While quitting as MLA, he had claimed the Congress government had not taken the desired action against those named in the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission's report on sacrilege incidents.

In his fresh communication to the speaker on Sunday, Phoolka wrote, "I had originally submitted my resignation in the month of October 2018, thereafter, I had personally appeared before you and had also submitted a one-line resignation from the Vidhan Sabha.

"After that I had resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party. You had called me for a hearing on March 23, 2019 and in that meeting also, I had made it clear to you that I have resigned from the party and my resignation may be accepted.

"And I had further told you that in case you feel my resignation is not in the (proper) format, then tell me in what format it should be, (and) I will sign that," he wrote.

"Despite all this, till today my resignation has not been accepted as yet. I request you to immediately accept my resignation so that the bye-elections for the Dhaka constituency could be held along with those for Phagwara and Jalalabad constituencies," he said.

BJP's Som Prakash and Shiromani Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal, who were the MLAs from Phagwara and Jalalabad respectively, were elected to the Lok Sabha from Hoshiarpur and Ferozepur respectively in the general elections earlier this year.

"The resignations of MLAs of Phagwara and Jalalabad have been accepted as they have been elected as Members of Parliament. But unfortunately, you have not accepted my resignation as yet. Therefore, please accept my resignation immediately so that the by-elections could be held together," he wrote.