New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Saturday justified her decision to deny Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress party status of Leader of Opposition saying it was based on rules and tradition.

The Supreme Court had decided on Friday to interpret rules regarding the provision of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

“The Supreme Court has questioned the Centre on the Issue of Lokpal’s appointment in the absence of Leader of Opposition, and the Attorney General will inform the court about the government’s stand. It has made no observation against the Speaker,” Mahajan said.

Mahajan had on Tuesday ruled that the Congress party cannot be accorded Leader of Opposition’s post as it did not meet the constitutional requirement.

Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha on Friday decided to go into the issue in the matter of selection of statutory bodies when there is no recognised Leader of Opposition and referred the issue to a Constitutional Bench while asking the government to clarify its stand in two weeks.

The apex court’s decision encouraged the beleaguered Congress party to launch an attack on the Narendra Modi government and the Speaker.

“The decision of the Speaker was in utter disregard to law and appears to be clearly influenced and coloured by the partisan agenda of the BJP-led government,” senior Congress party leader Anand Sharma said.

Federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh, however, refuted Congress party’s criticism by insisting that the Speaker had merely followed rules and tradition.

“As per the Constitution, a party must get 10 per cent seat (in the Lok Sabha). But unfortunately it did not happen. So they (Congress party) should accept it,” Singh said.

Mahajan took pains while interacting with journalists on Saturday to explain that she took the decision after studying the rules and traditions and after taking expert opinion on the issue.

She pointed out that there was no Leader of Opposition in 1980 and 1984 (when the Congress party was in power) as no opposition party had the required strength.

Congress party won just 44 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in the May general elections and fell short of the 10 per cent seat requirement. The party, however, demanded the status insisting that it along with its pre-poll allies, had won 59 seats which was not accepted by the Speaker.

Absence of the Leader of Opposition has forced the government to put on hold appointment of a new chief of the Central Information Commission and the Lokpal (ombudsman) as the Opposition representative is supposed to be in the selection panel.

Because of the delay in naming India’s first Lokpal even eight months after the Parliament had ratified the Lokpal Bill, the Supreme Court decided to interpret the rules while hearing a public interest litigation which questioned the delay.

Interestingly, the man who could have been the new Leader of Opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, remains unfazed by the controversy.

Soon after Mahajan ruled against his appointment, Kharge was quoted by a news agency as saying that he was not disappointed by the decision while questioning the rationale for the criterion of 10 per cent seats.

Leader of Opposition is entitled to the salary and perks equivalent to that of a cabinet minister.