‘ABSENCE OF LOP WON’T INVALIDATE LOKPAL, CVC APPOINTMENTS’

NEW DELHI: The absence of a recognized Leader of Opposition (LoP) will not invalidate appointments in various statutory bodies, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has said in an opinion to the Lok Sabha. He also said that the power to recognize a parliamentary party or group is solely that of the Speaker.

The AG’s opinion was sought by the Lok Sabha secretariat after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan, seeking LoP post for Congress nominee. The LoP is a member of selection committees to choose the chief and members of Lokpal, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central Information Commission (CIC) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

But Rohatgi has argued that all the relevant acts provide that the selection ‘shall not be rendered invalid under any of the acts merely on account of a vacancy of any member in the committee.” It is clear that in at least two of the four Acts (CVC and RTI) Parliament has clearly stated its intention that there may be a situation where no LoP is recognised in the LS.

“Regarding the other two Acts, it is obvious that the vacancy in the selection committee regarding Leader of Opposition, who will not be present in the committee because of lack of appointment as such, will be treated as a casual vacancy i.e. akin to a member of the selection committee not being able to attend the meeting,” Rohatgi argued.