New Delhi, Sep 11 - Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday said expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh could not be removed as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of parliament unless he was physically incapacitated.

'So far as the rule is concerned, not only the chairman but also members of the standing committees are appointed by speaker. There is no provision for removal of a chairman or member unless the person is incapacitated,' Mukherjee, a senior parliamentarian, told women journalists during an interaction here.

The finance minister said: 'Unless they (chairman and members) are incapacitated, (there is) no way of removing them. And that can only be done by speaker, not by members. It is a very unusual situation and we have to find out how this matter is resolved.'

The BJP had nominated Jaswant Singh, an MP from Darjeeling, as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee but subsquently after his expulsion from the party last month, was requested to step down from the post.

A defiant Singh turned this down and even held a meeting of the committee Monday, from which all three BJP members were absent.

Asked if he would intervene, Pranab Mukherjee : 'This is a matter between individuals and decision makers of the BJP.