[In the sixteenth Lok Sabha, the largest party in "opposition" is the Congress with 44 elected members, which is less than 10% of the total roll strength of the House: 543. This has given rise to an acrimonious debate whether the Congress is entitled to be recognised as the "opposition party" in the Lok Sabha and its leader as the "Leader of the Opposition".]
I/IV. [An excerpt from 'THE SALARY AND ALLOWANCES OF LEADERS OF OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT ACT, 1977 AND RULES MADE THEREUNDER' (As amended upto 18.12.2002): MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, NEW DELHI, May, 2003.] *Definition :*--In this Act, "Leader of the Opposition", in relation to either House of Parliament, means that member of the Council of States or the House of the People, as the case may be, who is, for the time being, the Leader in that House of the party In opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised as such by the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People, as the case may be. Explanation .--Where there are two or more parties in opposition to the Government, in the Council of States or In the House of the People having the same numerical strength, the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the people, as the case may be, shall, having regard to the status of the parties, recognise any one of the Leaders of such parties as the Leader of the Opposition for the purposes of this section and such recognition shall be final and conclusive. [Source: < http://web.archive.org/web/20100116211914/http://mpa.nic.in/actopp.htm>.] II/IV. http://www.theindianrepublic.com/featured/bjp-takes-harsh-stand-congress-lead-opposition-100039504.html BJP Takes A Harsh Stand; Congress To Not Lead The Opposition - Thursday, 12 June 2014 12:55 New Delhi Narendra Modi' government may abide by the rule stating that any party must have a minimum of ten percentage of the total seats in the Lok Sabha General Elections (i.e. at least 55 out of the total 543 seats), in order for it to be awarded the status of the Opposition Party. This decision by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the current ruling party of the Lok Sabha, meant that Congress would not be the Opposition Party and that none of Sonia Gandhi or her son Rahul Gandhi would be entitled to be the Leader of Opposition. This decision from the BJP has come following the initial indications from Prime Minister Modi led government of the BJP that they may take a not-so-harsh approach on letting the Congress Party enjoy the benefits of being the Opposition Party, by letting Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her close associates preside in the first session of the 16thLok Sabha. To support the party's decision, a senior leader of BJP was quick to comment that the Congress Party, on previous three occasions, had not let the other parties take the Opposition post after the latter had failed to earn 10% seats in the Lok Sabha. Another minister of the BJP conveyed that the party was only following the rules laid by the first speaker of the Lok Sabha, Ganesh Vasudev Mavlankar. However, as the Congress Party is the one with the highest number of seats after the ruling party, the post of the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament would be given to it. It has been known that no administrative problems have occurred before when there was no Leader of Opposition or the Opposition Party. After the BJP had won with a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections, it was seen in the recently concluded LS session that the Congress Party and the other parties, except the AIDMK and BJD, have started making up allies amongst themselves to challenge the ruling party and to conquer the office of the Opposition Party. III/IV. He [i.e. Rajiv Prata Rudy, a senior BJP MP in the Lok Sabha] also highlighted [on June 10 during his speech in the Lok Sabha] the decimation of the Congress in the national election - the party was saddled with its worst defeat ever. "The Congress has just 44 seats, it has been reduced to a regional party. It is not entitled to the post of Leader of the Opposition," Mr Rudy said. [Source: < http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/our-pm-has-a-big-heart-we-will-listen-to-all-mps-bjp-s-rudy-in-parliament-538956 >.] IV. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Case-for-leading-the-opposition/articleshow/37098113.cms Case for leading the opposition Muhammad Khan & Mohan Parasaran | Jun 24, 2014, 12.08AM IST Last week was witness to a series of debates about whether the 16th Lok Sabha <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Lok-Sabha> will have a leader of opposition. It was implied that the ruling party might follow G V Mavlankar's formula to deny Congress its rightful claim. This formula requires a quorum of 10% in the Lok Sabha before a party is considered as the opposition. These arguments, in defiance of parliamentary convention, are specious and at best naive. Relying on Mavlankar's formula is problematic for two reasons. First, it was articulated as a specific arrangement to accommodate the then prevailing political climate (Mavlankar was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha where no opposition per se existed). Second, it was applied at a time when no legislation had been enacted on the subject. The formula, if ever it could be recognised as such (since it was based more on necessity than principle), has been eclipsed by a statute. A deeper review of the subject's legislative history shows, conclusively, that the post of leader of opposition is not a product of subjective discretion. There exists clear legislation which recognises the creation of such a post. The Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977, grants statutory recognition to the post of leader of opposition. Section 2 of the law states that a ''leader of opposition is defined as a Lok Sabha member who is the leader of the party in opposition to the government, having the greatest numerical strength''. No other conditions are specified. To understand the intention with which Parliament passed the law one only needs to see its statement of object and reasons according to which: "In a parliamentary democracy, the leader of opposition has an important role to play. In the UK, Australia and Canada <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Canada>, the leader of opposition has been accorded statutory recognition. Having regard to the important role of the leader of opposition in a parliamentary democracy, it is considered that the leaders of opposition in the House of the People and the Council of States should be accorded statutory recognition." The intent as laid out explicitly and the extensive degree of ceremony which the statute prescribes, clarifies, beyond doubt, the key role intended to be played by the individual holding the post in the functioning of Parliament. Those arguing against the creation of this post have cited Rule 121 of the directions by the Speaker under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha which specifies a 10% quorum to be recognised as a political party. It is a founding principle of law-making that rules cannot add conditions not intended by the parent legislation. The Speaker's directions are subordinate to the 1977 law passed by Parliament. If there is conflict between a statute passed by Parliament and rules or directions framed by the Speaker then there is no doubt the latter will prevail. It would also be pertinent to draw attention to the Supreme Court's observations in Sanjeev Coke vs Bharat Coal Ltd (1983): "No one may speak for Parliament and Parliament is never before the court. After Parliament has said what it intends to say, only the court may say what Parliament meant to say. None else." The laboured interpretations being offered by commentators presuming to interpret what Parliament should do would be wise to take note of this. Even British parliamentary practice, to which our courts look for guidance in such matters, demonstrates otherwise. The 1937 Ministers of the Crown Act, the inspiration for our own law, confirms that the office of leader of opposition means "that member of the House of Commons <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/House-of-Commons>who is for the time being the leader in that House of the party in opposition to His Majesty's government having the greatest numerical strength in that House". Again, no requirement for satisfaction of a quorum is laid down. The leader of opposition is a recognised and essential member (under other statutes passed by Parliament) on selection committees of various bodies: chairman of the National Human Rights Commission <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Human-Rights-Commission>, Central Vigilance Commission, Lokpal and Chief Information Commissioner etc. Did the legislature intend for this role to be perfunctory or dispensable? If yes, then the language suggests otherwise. Two of these laws go even further and specify that in the absence of recognition of a leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, the leader of the single largest group in opposition in the Lower House shall be considered as leader of opposition. Thus, if there is no leader of opposition, invaluable checks and balances intended to be instituted by Parliament would be rendered null and void: an idea preposterous to the objects intended by the legislature. The Speaker has simply not been vested with the power (or the option) of not recognising a leader of opposition. His discretion is invoked only if there is a tie i.e. two parties in opposition have the same number of members. BJP has been given a historic mandate by the world's largest democracy. Diluting the structures that have helped it achieve this victory will not be a worthwhile addition to their legacy. *Mohan Parasaran is a former Solicitor General and a senior Supreme Court advocate. Muhammad Khan is an advocate, Supreme Court.* -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
