Thursday, August 4 2005 18:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today (August 4, 2005) rejected Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee's letter quitting the House saying it was "not a proper letter of resignation".

"A letter has been received through an officer of the House to the Deputy Speaker, the Honourable member concerned has tendered her resignation. It is not a proper letter of resignation. It was not submitted in a proper form and I am not treating it as a letter of resignation," he said.

Banerjee had created a commotion in the House in the pre-lunch sitting when she threw a bunch of papers at the Speaker's podium, which was occupied then by Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal after being disallowed to raise the issue of illegal migration of Bangladeshis into West Bengal.

As the House reassembled after the commotion, an angry Banerjee kept a paper in front of Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal and left the House in a huff, triggering speculation that she has quit Lok Sabha.

With Left members demanding her unconditional apology, Chatterjee while rejecting her resignation, noted that being a "responsible leader and member of the House", it was for her to say something about her conduct.