Supreme Court of India rejects PIL seeking Leader of Opposition status to Congress in Lok Sabha Friday Aug 08,2014

The Supreme Court of India on Friday Aug 08,2014 dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the status of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha for the Congress party, saying it cannot decide political issues filed under the garb of litigations. 

Refusing to entertain the petition filed by an advocate, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha said, "Ruling of the Speaker in the House is not amenable to judicial review. Under Article 32, we are not sitting here to decide political issues." 

Petitioner M.L. Sharma had sought that the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha be conferred the status of the Leader of Opposition as it is the largest party in the Opposition as provided under the 1977 law on salary and allowances of leaders of opposition in Parliament. 

Contesting the opinion of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, Sharma contended that the question of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha could not be mixed up with the statutory provision which says only a party securing 10 per cent of the total strength of the 543- member Lok Sabha could be accorded the status of the recognized Opposition party in the Lower House.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, in his opinion to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, had said the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha could not be treated as the Leader of Opposition as the party did not have a minimum of 55 seats to get the status of recognised Opposition party

 

To back up his position,Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has referred to the position taken by the first Lok Sabha Speaker G V Mavlankar, who had said a minimum of 10 % members of its total strength should be present to hold the proceedings of the House and that should also be the strength of the main Opposition party to be recognised as the principal Opposition party and its leader as the Opposition leader.

The Congress Party, which has been waging a political battle both inside and outside Parliament for the post, refused to get drawn into the controversy. "You better ask the person who filed the PIL. We did not," Salman Khurshid said.