Speaker tells Sidhu: rewrite resignation to edit out ‘moralising’

Lok Sabha Secretariat officials said “the letter of (Sidhu’s) resignation was not in accordance to rules” and that they have been asked by the Speaker to “communicate the message” to Sidhu. Sidhu later told the media that he was ready to rewrite the letter.

In fact, Rule 240 of the Rules and Procedures of Lok Sabha does not allow a member of Parliament to cite any condition or reason for his resignation. However, Sidhu, keen to provide his party, the BJP, which has crying foul over Shibu Soren’s conviction, a face-saver began with referring to the case as an “18-years-old case arising out of an alleged road rage.” “Honourable High Court will hear my lawyers on Wednesday with regard to the quantum of punishment. Without resorting to technical arguments with regard to what the quantum of punishment will be and my right to challenge the judgement in appeal, I tender my resignation as member of Lok Sabha,” he wrote.

Overturning the Patiala district court’s 1999 acquittal order, the Punjab and Haryana HC today convicted him for causing the death of Gurnam Singh on December 27, 1988, in a fight over parking space.

Parliament’s procedural rules only allow an MP to tender a simple straight-forward resignation from the membership of the House where he can only specify the date of resignation. Earlier, Trinamool Congress MP Mamata Banerjee’s resignation was similarly rejected for not conforming to the format.

In case of conviction, an MP is given three months to appeal to a higher court against it to avoid disqualification under Representation of People’ Act. If the higher court rejects the appeal, the MP stands disqualified from Parliament and cannot contest elections for the next six years.