The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused an urgent hearing to a petition seeking direction to the Lok Sabha speaker to appoint a Leader of the Opposition in the House, PTI reported.

“Looking at the relief sought, there is no urgency,” a bench of Justices Jyoti Singh and Manoj Ohri said. The judges listed the plea for hearing before an appropriate bench on July 8.

Advocates Manmohan Singh Narula and Susmita Kumari, who filed the plea, claimed that Speaker Om Birla was not performing his statutory duty of appointing the Leader of the Opposition. They said it sets a bad precedence and dilutes democracy.

There is no recognised main Opposition party in the 17th Lok Sabha. The Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 seats in the Lok Sabha elections out of 542, while the Congress won just 52, three fewer than the number needed to be recognised as the official Opposition party.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on June 17, and Om Birla was appointed Speaker of the Lower House two days later.