New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded the sacking of Home Minister P. Chidambaram saying he was guilty of "criminal offence" for allegedly misusing his power to favour a former client accused in a forgery case.

BJP leader Yashwant Sinha asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to sack the home minister and not leave it to his discretion whether he should resign or not.

"The prime minister should sack the home minister and clarify in both houses... It is an open and shut case so we demand he be sacked and not leave it to his discretion to resign," Sinha told reporters here.

Both houses of parliament were disrupted Thursday over a report in a national daily alleging that the home minister had helped a Delhi hotelier who was his client when he was a practising lawyer.

"The conflict of interest relates to a politically sensitive case in which Chidambaram's client S.P. Gupta, a hotelier, was also accused... The main case against Gupta was defrauding to the tune of several crores of rupees," according to The Pioneer newspaper.

The report alleged that the home ministry had earlier this year directed withdrawal of FIRs against the hotel owner accused of cheating and forgery.

Sinha said Gupta had waited till the right time when his lawyer became the home minister.

"Chidambaram misused his office, he is not just guilty of improper conduct but he is guilty of criminal offence," Sinha added.