Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
India

SC questions government on lack of opposition leader

Darpan News Desk IANS, 22 Aug, 2014 11:02 AM
    The Supreme Court Friday questioned the central government over the issue of appointing a leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, and said it will give a larger interpretation to the concept of the opposition leader if the government failed to resolve the issue.
     
    Days after Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan ruled that the Congress won't get the status of the opposition, Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman underlined the importance of the post.
     
    The leader of opposition conveys the voice of the people different from that of the government, said the court, raising questions regarding the absence of a recognized opposition leader in the lower house of parliament.
     
    Mahajan announced that the Congress won't be recognized as the main opposition party as it won only 44 seats, less than 10 percent of the 543 members who get elected.
     
    The judges said they will examine the provision in the Lokpal law that mandates the presence of the leader of the opposition in the selection committee as there is no recognized opposition leader in the Lok Sabha.
     
    The court said the leader of the opposition was an important component in the functioning of parliament.
     
    After the apex court's ruling, the Congress party reiterated its demand that it should be recognised as the principal opposition party in the Lok Sabha.
     
    "The Supreme Court has taken an important step. The government should reconsider its stand and ask the Lok Sabha speaker to relook into it," said party leader Manish Tewari.
     
    The government, however, maintained that the Congress did not qualify for the post.
     
    Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: "As per the constitution, a party must get 10 percent seats (for leader of opposition status).
     
    "But unfortunately it did not happen. So, they should accept it," he said.
     
    BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi added that this was not the first time the position of the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha is unoccupied.
     
    "This is the 8th time... It has happened seven times before," she said.A
     
    The apex court meanwhile said the leader of the opposition was of consequence not just in the context of the selection of Lokpal but also vis-a-vis the National Human Rights Commission and the Central Vigilance Commission.
     
    The court asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatagi to clarify two points: how the government wishes to make the Lokpal Act workable and, two, how to move forward if there is no recognized opposition leader.
     
    Chief Justice Lodha said that if government failed to resolve the issue, the court may give a larger interpretation to the term so that it may include the leader of the largest party in the opposition.
     
    The court said this in the course of hearing a PIL by NGO Common Cause, which has challenged the search committee procedure for Lokpal.
     
    Under the existing provision, anyone desirous of being selected as chairman or a member of Lokpal has to make an application to the department of personnel and training. It is this procedure that has come under fire from sections of people and activists.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Rahul Gandhi dozes off in Parliament, footage goes viral on social media

    Rahul Gandhi dozes off in Parliament, footage goes viral on social media
    Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Wednesday dozed off in the Lok Sabha during the debate on price rise, with the BJP using the visuals caught on the house TV channel to hit out at the Congress.

    Rahul Gandhi dozes off in Parliament, footage goes viral on social media

    Punjab to bring e-stamping to phase out stamp papers

    Punjab to bring e-stamping to phase out stamp papers
    Aiming to eliminate the need to purchase and submit stamp papers with legal documents, the Punjab cabinet Tuesday gave nod to the draft of the state e-stamp rules, 2014 for the implementation of e-stamping system.

    Punjab to bring e-stamping to phase out stamp papers

    Tech, commerce to power Indian Railways in future

    Tech, commerce to power Indian Railways in future
    Bullet trains are set to become a reality in India with the first service between Mumbai and Ahmedabad as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government sought to run Indian Railways - one of the world's largest - like a "commercial enterprise but serve like a welfare organization".

    Tech, commerce to power Indian Railways in future

    91 Punjabis return from Iraq

    91 Punjabis return from Iraq
    At least 91 men from Punjab who were stuck in conflict-hit Iraq have returned home, a state government spokesman said here Tuesday.

    91 Punjabis return from Iraq

    Punjab rides 'HIGH' on pharmaceutical intoxicants

    Punjab rides 'HIGH' on pharmaceutical intoxicants
    The increasing seizures of drugs, especially heroin, in recent years shows that Punjab has emerged as a major transit point for those in the illegal drugs trade. But the state itself, facing a worrying drugs menace, is hooked to pharmaceutical intoxicants.

    Punjab rides 'HIGH' on pharmaceutical intoxicants

    Where is Breaking News? Modi government tightens grip on information

    Where is Breaking News? Modi government tightens grip on information
    Among the subtle changes associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government are those dealing with the media and nowhere has it affected a news-hungry media's working more than in the way news sources from the government have completely dried up and resulted in shrinking of the culture of intermittent Breaking News on television.

    Where is Breaking News? Modi government tightens grip on information