PTI
 
Patna, Jan 26: Facing mounting pressure for his exit, Bihar Governor Buta Singh resigned on Thursday claiming "great injustice" has been meted out to him and strongly defended his report to the Centre that had led to the dissolution of the Assembly for which the Supreme Court had castigated him. 

"I have faxed my resignation letter to President (A P J Abdul Kalam).... I have resigned out of sheer respect to the Supreme Court," he told reporters after hoisting the national flag at the Republic Day parade and hosting an "at home" in Raj Bhavan but strongly justified his reports.

The 71-year-old Singh’s decision to put in his papers after a 15-month tenure dogged by controversies ended the two-day suspense on his fate and came as a big relief to the Congress-led coalition at the Centre, which has been under attack from the Opposition and criticism even from allies on the Governors role.

His continuance had appeared untenable after the strong remarks of the Supreme Court.

Ever since the judgement on Tuesday, top Congress leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have been holding consultations on how to control the damage after the apex court judgement and to ensure that Singh made his exit at the earliest.

Singh, whose career has been punctuated by controversies, came under a stinging attack from the Supreme Court for his "misleading" report in May last year that led to the dissolution of the Assembly and imposition of President’s rule.

The government’s decision was also criticised by the Court, which said the report should have been verified.