Mumbai, March 12 :     Former Maharashtra chief minister Manohar Joshi today announced he would resign from the Assembly after the severe strictures passed against him by Bombay High Court yesterday for favouring his Pune-based son-in-law, Girish Vyas. Joshi said at a press conference this evening he had decided to resign after the strictures passed against him by the division bench of Justice B.N. Srikrishna and Justice S.S. Parkar. The bench had been hearing a public interest litigation filed by Pune journalist Vijay Kumbhar and Pune councillor Nitin Jagtap, charging Joshi with misusing his powers as chief minister to dereserve a plot meant for a primary school in Pune for his builder son-in-law. Asked if he had informed Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray or chief minister Narayan Rane, who had replaced him a little over a month ago, Joshi said: ?No, I have not informed Balasaheb because he is out of town. I have also not informed the chief minister. You are the first person I am talking to about my resignation.? He, however, said he knew Thackeray?s mind and, therefore, did not expect any obstacle to his decision to resign. The former chief minister, who had come ready with the draft of his resignation letter, said he would submit it to Maharashtra Speaker Datta Nalawade, when the Assembly is convened for the budget session on Monday. The high court, meanwhile, continued to dictate its judgment on the PIL against Joshi and his son-in-law. Justice Srikrishna observed today that Joshi, when he was chief minister, ?had pressurised officials into taking illegal action and in our eyes this this is abuse of executive power?. Joshi?s hurriedly convened press conference was held immediately after the high court finished business for the day. The rest of the judgment will be read out when the court takes up the case on Monday. Asked to comment on the judgment, Joshi said: ?I will not speak on the judgement since it is still in the process of being delivered. I do feel that I might go to the Supreme Court.? ?I will speak on the floor of the House when I tender my resignation,? Joshi said, seeking to air his feelings under the special privileges granted to the members of the legislative Assembly. In his resignation letter, Joshi said he was resigning because he felt ?my image among the common man and my prestige in political life and my inspiration for social work? demanded that he resign in the light of the strictures against him by the high court. However, Joshi is not planning on quitting politics, adds PTI. ?I will be very much in politics,? he said. ?Had I known that the court would be passing such strictures, I would have resigned earlier,? he added. Joshi denied that Thackeray?s decision to remove him from chief ministership had anything to do with the court case. He said he did not think there was any connection between his hard-hitting speech on the Srikrishna Commission report in the Assembly and the court strictures.