LoP vital for important appointments: Gnanadesikan

July 28, 2014 12:19 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:32 pm IST - MADURAI:

The post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha has assumed greater significance because several laws passed during the UPA rule have made the incumbent a member of appointment committees, TNCC president B.S. Gnanadesikan said on Sunday.

Addressing journalists here, he said the BJP-led government was trying to give legal sanction to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision not to confer the status on the Congress, which had the maximum number of seats among the Opposition parties. The appointment of members to the Lok Pal and the Comptroller and Auditor-General, among others, had to be made by a committee of which the Leader of the Opposition was a member.

Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi’s opinion that the Congress had no claim to the post, citing precedence, was to dress up the decision as legally correct. “The power to accord the status [to a party] is vested only with the Speaker. Whether it is right or wrong, the decision should be made by the Speaker … and not by the government,” he said.

“How is the Centre going to make appointments to these important posts without the LoP? Is it going to amend those laws,” Mr. Gnanadesikan asked.

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