New Delhi: Justice K Venkataswami resigned both as head of the Tehelka inquiry commission and chairman of the Authority on Advance Ruling on Customs and Excise, informed sources said.

Venkataswami's resignation comes in the wake of the strong criticism from the Opposition in Parliament on November 22 over his acceptance of a government job when he was probing the Tehelka expose into fictitious Defence deals.

The sources said that Venkataswami, a retired Supreme Court judge, sent in his resignation from both the posts to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Venkataswami was appointed in April 2001 to head the commission to probe into allegations of corruptions in Defence deals made by Tehelka.

The commission was initially set up for four months and later got more than three extensions.

The sources said Venkataswami, in his letter to Vajpayee, said the controversial job during the Tehelka probe was offered to him on the recommendation of the then Chief Justice of India last year and that he had never sought the post.

But now that the allegations had been levelled against him, it was difficult for him to work, he said in the letter.

PTI