'Complaint on Pranab's sign did not make any sense'

PA Sangma's complaint on UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee's nomination papers did not make any sense which led to quashing of the objections, VK Agnihotri, Returning Officer for the election, said.

PA Sangma's complaint on UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee's nomination papers did not make any sense which led to quashing of the objections, VK Agnihotri, Returning Officer for the election, said.

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"My ruling was that only the person who signs has to say it is not my signature...Somebody else making this claim, to me, did not make any sense," Agnihotri, who is also the Rajya Sabha secretary general, told reporters at the Indian Women Press Corps in New Delhi.

During the scrutiny of the nomination papers, Sangma, the BJP-backed candidate in the July 19 Presidential poll, had claimed that Mukherjee held an office of profit and his application to contest the election be rejected.

Parliamentary Affairs minister PK Bansal, the UPA nominee's authorised representative, submitted a letter stating that Mukherjee had resigned from the post of chairman, Indian Statistical Institute before filing his nomination.

"Once this letter was produced, as RO I had no reason to believe that the letter was not genuine," Agnihotri said.

He also made it clear that according to the law, the RO can make a summary inquiry and not conduct it in a manner done by the courts.

"If there are grievances, other avenues are available for redressal," he said.

Agnihotri said an election petition can be filed before the Supreme Court after the result of the Presidential election was announced.

However, the law also states that President Pratibha Patil will continue in office if the Supreme Court stays the election before swearing in of the winning candidate.