New Delhi, Mar 31: Orissa Assembly Speaker Maheswar Mohanty has resigned over accusation of sexual harassment levelled against him by lady marshal Gayatri Panda.

police had on Saturday registered a criminal case against Speaker Maheswar Mohanty for allegedly sexually harassing a state assembly woman marshal Gayatri Panda. Police commissioner B K Behera had said Mohanty has been booked under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 507 (similar intimidation through telephone), 509 (lewd suggestions and obscene remarks) and 34 (common object) of the IPC.

Prior to police registering the case against the Speaker, there was a series of public protests in Bhubaneswar and other parts of the state.