Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977
No: 33 Dated: Aug, 18 1977
THE SALARY AND ALLOWANCES OF LEADERS OF OPPOSITION IN PARLIAMENT ACT, 1977
ACT NO. 33 OF 1977
An Act to provide for the salary and allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty-eighth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—
1. Short title and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definition.—In this Act, “Leader of the Opposition”, in relation to either House of Parliament, means that member of the Council of States or the House of the People, as the case may be, who is, for the time being, the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to the Government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised as such by the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People, as the case may be.
Explanation.—Where there are two or more parties in opposition to the Government, in the Council of States or in the House of the People having the same numerical strength, the Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of the House of the People, as the case may be, shall, having regard to the status of the parties, recognise any one of the Leaders of such parties as the Leader of the Opposition for the purposes of this section and such recognition shall be final and conclusive.
3. Salary, and daily, constituency and sumptuary allowances.—(1) Each Leader of the Opposition shall, so long as he continues as such Leader, be entitled to receive a salary per mensem and allowance for each day at the same rates as are specified in section 3 of the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954 (30 of 1954) with respect to members of Parliament.
(2) Each Leader of the Opposition shall also be entitled to receive a constituency allowance at the same rate as is for the time being specified under section 8 of the said Act with respect to members of Parliament.
(3) There shall be paid to each Leader of the Opposition a sumptuary allowance of one thousand rupees per mensem:
Provided that on and from the 17th day of September, 2001, the sumptuary allowance shall be paid to each Leader of the Opposition at the same rate at which the sumptuary allowance is payable, under section 5 of the Salaries and Allowances of Ministers Act, 1952 (58 of 1952), to every other Minister who is a member of the Cabinet.
4. Residence for Leaders of Opposition.—(1) Each Leader of the Opposition shall, so long as he continues as such Leader and for a period of one month immediately thereafter, be entitled without payment of rent to the use of a furnished residence and no charge shall fall on the Leader of the Opposition personally in respect of the maintenance of such residence.
(2) In the event of the death of a Leader of the Opposition, his family shall be entitled to the use of the furnished residence occupied by him—
(a) for a period of one month immediately after his death, without payment of rent and no charge shall fall on his family in respect of the maintenance of such residence; and
(b) for a further period of one month, on payment of rent at such rates as may be prescribed by rules made in this behalf by the Central Government and also charges in respect of electricity and water consumed in that residence during such further period.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “residence” includes the staff quarters and other buildings appurtenant thereto, and the garden thereof, and “maintenance” in relation to a residence includes the payment of local rates and taxes and the provision of electricity and water.