| INDIA LEGAL |July 22, 2019 25position of the LoP came to be formally
recognised along with certain emolu-
ments and perks.
On the other hand, it is to be noted
that neither the Constitution of India
nor the Rules of Procedure and Conduct
of Business in the Lok Sabha or the
Rajya Sabha make any provision for the
Leader of the Opposition. The LoP Act
of 1977 defines LoP, in relation to either
house of Parliament, as a member who
is, for the time being, the leader in the
house of the party in opposition to the
government having the greatest numeri-
cal strength and recognised as such by
the chairman of the Council of States or
the speaker of the Lok Sabha, as the
case may be. In addition to the salary
and constituency allowance, the LoP is
entitled to a sumptuary allowance and
travelling allowance on a par with a
Cabinet minister. He is also entitled to
furnish ed rent-free as well as tax-free
accommodation, telephone and secre-
tarial facilities and conveyance facility
with a driver, among other perks.
Further, Direction 121 of the Direc -
tions by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
provides that in recognising a parlia-
mentary party or group, the Speaker
shall take into consideration the follow-
ing principles:
“(1) An association of members who
propose to form a Parliamentary Party—
(a) shall have announced at the time of
the general elections a distinct ideology
and programme of Parliamentary work
on which they have been returned to
the House;
(b) shall have an organisation both
inside and outside the House; and
(c) shall have at least a strength equal to
the quorum fixed to constitute a sitting
of the House, that is one-tenth of the
total number of members of the House.
(2) An association of members to form a
Parliamentary Group shall satisfy the
conditions specified in parts (a) and (b)
of clause (1) and shall have at least a
strength of 30 members.”
The Direction of the Speaker is in
conformity with the provisions of The
Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised
Parties and Groups in Parliament
(Facilities) Act, 1998. This Act makes a
distinction between a “recognised
group” and a “recognised party” in the
Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha.
In brief, a “group” is a smaller formation
while a “party” is a larger formation.
Thus, in order for a party to be recognis -
ed as such, in the House of the People
(Lok Sabha), it has to have a strength of
not less than 55 members in the House,
which is the same as the strength equal
to the quorum fixed to constitute a sit-
ting of the House, that is 1/10th of the
total number of members of the House,
mentioned in the Speaker’s Direction
[121 (1) (c)].T
hus, the 1977 Act does not pre-
scribe the condition that a party
should have a strength of 55
members in the Lok Sabha, before its
leader can make a claim for being grant-
ed the status of LoP. Further, the 1998
Act deals with the status of parties
based on their strength and spells out
the facilities to be provided to their
leaders acc ordingly. It does not specifi-
cally deal with the appointment of the
LoP. As a matter of fact, when the issue
was raised in 2014, after the constitu-
tion of the 16th Lok Sabha, regarding
grant of status of LoP to the leader of
the Congress party (which then had a
strength of 44 members only as com-
pared to 52 now), in response to an RTIapplication the Lok Sabha Secretariat
responded as follows: “There is no mini-
mum percentage prescribed for the
selection of the Leader of Opposition.”
At the same time, the then Speaker, in
the context of a request from the
Congress party to grant its leader the
status of the LoP, ruled: “After consider-
ation of applicable provisions of relevant
statutes, Directions by the Speaker, Lok
Sabha (Directions 120 and 121) and sev-
eral past precedents repeatedly followed
for the last nearly 60 years which have
been based upon decision taken by
many eminent Speakers in the past, it
has not been found possible to accede to
your request.”
It cannot be gainsaid that recogni-
tion of the role of the opposition is the
hallmark of parliamentary democracy.
As mentioned earlier, the Westminster
model has given it the designation “Her
Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition”. In the
Indian context, the LoP is not only a
member of the selection committee con-
stituted to recommend the Chairman
and members of the Lokpal; he is also
represented on the selection committees
for the appointments of the CVC, CIC
and NHRC, among others. In some of
these cases, in the absence of the LoP,
the leader of the single largest party—in
opposition—in the Lok Sabha is taken
on board. In view of all this, it would be
in the fitness of things if, at least, the
leader of the largest pre-poll coalition in
the House is given the status of LoP.
App ro priate changes in the law as well
as the Speaker’s Directions may accord-
ingly be made, insofar as the practice of
recognising a “group” is in vogue in view
of the Act of 1998. A small gesture on
the part of the authorities will be a big
leap forward towards gaining the confi-
dence of the opposition and strengthen-
ing democratic traditions.—The writer is a former Secre tary
General of the Rajya SabhaTwitter: @indialegalmedia
Website: http://www.indialegallive.com
Contact: [email protected]During the 16th Lok Sabha a similar con-
troversy led to the selection of the Lokpal
with the leader of the Congress party,
Mallikarjun Kharge (above), not attend-
ing the meetings of the selection panel.