The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to respond to a petition seeking that the leader of the single largest opposition party be treated as the leader of the Opposition and be included in high-level committees, PTI reported.

The petition sought the court to direct that wherever the appointing committee includes the leader of the Opposition, it should be considered as the leader of the single largest opposition party in the House.

After the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress emerged as the single largest opposition party, but it did not have the minimum 10% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha, which is needed to be eligible as the leader of Opposition.

The petition, filed by NGO Youth for Equality, sought to include the leader of the Opposition in high-level committees that are involved in the appointment of heads of statutory bodies like the Lokpal, the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Central Information Commission and the Central Vigilance Commission. The government must not be allowed to frustrate the selection process for lack of notification of a substitute, the petition said, according to Bar and Bench. The petition said such grounds have been used to delay the appointment of India’s first Lokpal for nearly five years.

Moreover, the petitioner also challenged Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, that provide for a blanket protection to all public servants regardless of status from enquiry in graft cases. “Once public servants are afforded the protection of the previous sanction at the stage of cognisance under Section 19 of the Act, there appears to be no justification to add yet another layer of protection right at the very threshold when it comes to even embarking on an enquiry or investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988,” the petitioner said, according to Bar and Bench.