Buta reaches Delhi, owns up dissolution decision

Asked if he would file a review petition in the apex court, Singh said he would discuss the issue with his close friends.

Dismissing suggestions that he dissolved the Bihar Assembly under pressure from the Centre, Buta Singh asserted that it was a constitutional decision taken by him.

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"The decision (to recommend dissolution) was taken by me and it was a constitutional decision," he told reporters at the airport in New Delhi on his arrival from Patna when asked if he had taken the decision under pressure.

Immediately after his arrival, he drove to his house in a private car driven by his son.

Asked if he would file a review petition in the apex court, Singh said he would discuss the issue with his close friends before taking a decision.

On whether he had been made a scapegoat, the former Governor objected to the use of the expression. He said he was in politics for over 45 years and it was not proper to use this kind of expression for him.

To a query as to why he did not put forward his views before the Supreme Court, Singh said the court had never sought his reply.

Before packing up for New Delhi after his controversial stint as Governor spanning nearly 15 months, Singh paid courtesy visits to Chief Justice of Patna High Court JN Bhatt and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Barring the Principal Secretary to the Governor, RJM Pillai, and some protocol officers, no other senior official was seen at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport at Patna when he boarded a flight for the Capital.