JAMMU AND
KASHMIR STATE COMMISSION FOR WOMEN ACT, 1999 [REPEALED] THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE COMMISSION FOR WOMEN ACT, 1999
[REPEALED] [ACT No. 5 of 1999] [13th April, 1999] An Act to
constitute a State Commission for Women and to provide for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto. Be it enacted by the Jammu
and Kashmir State Legislature in the Fiftieth Year of the Republic of India as
follows : (1)
This Act may be called the State Commission for Women Act, 1999. (2)
It extends to the whole of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. (3)
It shall come into force on such date[1] as
the Government may, by notification in the Government Gazette, appoint. In this Act, unless the
context otherwise requires;? (a)
"Commission" means the State Commission for Women
constituted under section 3; (b)
"Government" means the Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir; (c)
"Member" means a Member of the Commission; (d)
"prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this
Act. (1)
The Government shall constitute a body to be known as the State
Commission for Women to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the
functions assigned to it, under this Act. (2)
The Commission shall consist of? (a)
a whole time Chairperson and two part-time Members to be nominated
by the Government from amongst eminent women of the State committed to the
cause of women; (b)
one Secretary of the rank off Additional Secretary to Government
to be nominated by the Government. (1)
The Chairperson and every Member shall hold office for such
period, not exceeding three years as may be specified by the Govern?ment in
this behalf. (2)
The Chairperson or a Member may, by writing and addressed to the
Government, resign from the office of Chairperson or, as the case may be, of
the Member at any time. (3)
The Government shall remove a person from the office of
Chairperson or a Member referred to in sub-section (2) if that person:- (a)
becomes an undischarged insolvent; (b)
gets convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which
in the opinion of the Government involves moral turpitude; (c)
becomes of unsound mind and sands so declared by a competent
court; (d)
refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting; (e)
?is, without obtaining leave
of absence from the Commission, absent from three consecutive meetings of the
Commission; or (f)
in the opinion of the Government has so abused the position of
Chairperson or Member as to render that person's continuance in office
detrimental to the public interest: Provided that no person shall
be removed under this clause untill that person has been given a reasonable
opportunity of being heard in the matter. (4)
A vacancy caused under sub-section (2) or otherwise shall be
filled by fresh nomination. (5)
The salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and
conditions of service of, the Chairperson and Members shall be such as may be
prescribed. (1)
The Government shall provide the Commission with such officers and
employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of
the Commission under this Act. (2)
The salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and
conditions of services of the officers and other employees appointed for the
purposes of the Commission shall be such as may be prescribed. The salaries and allowances
payable to the Chairperson and Members and the administrative expenses
including salaries, allowances and pensions payable to and officers and other
employees referred to in section 5, shall be paid out of the grants referred to
in sub-section (1) of section 11. No Act or proceedings of
the Commission shall be questioned or shall be invalid on the ground merely of
the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the Commission. (1)
The Commission may appoint such committees as may be necessary for
dealing with such special issues as may be taken up by the Commission from time
to time. (2)
The Commission shall have the power to co-opt as members of any
committee appointed under sub-section (1) such number of persons, who are not
members of the Commission, as it may think fit and the persons so co-opted
shall have the right to attend the meetings of the committees and take part in its proceeding but shall not
have the right to vote. (3)
The persons so co-opted shall be entitled to receive such
allowance for attending the meetings of the committee as may be prescribe. (1)
The Commission or a committee thereof shall meet as and when
necessary and shall meet at such time and place as the Chair?person may think
fit. (2)
The Commission shall regulate its own procedure and the procedure
of the committees thereof. (3)
All orders and decisions of the Commission shall be authenticated
by the Member-Secretary or any other officer of the Commission duly authorized
by the Member-Secretary in this behalf (1)
The Commission shall perform all or any of the following
functions, namely:- (a)
investigate and examine all matters relating to the safeguards
provided for women under the Constitution and other laws; (b)
present to the Government annually and at such other times as the
Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards; (c)
make in such reports, recommendations for the effective
implementation of those safeguards for improving the condition of women by the
State; (d)
review from time to time, the existing provisions of the
Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and other laws affecting women and recommend
amendments thereto so as to suggest remedial legislative measures to meet any
lacunae, inadequacies or shortcomings in such legislations; (e)
take up the cases of violation of the provisions of the
Constitution and of the other laws relating to women with the appropriate
authorities; (f)
looking into complaints and take suo-moto notice of matters
relating to? (i)
deprivation of women's right; (ii)
non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection of women
and also to achieve objective of equality and development; (iii)
non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions
aimed at mitigating hardships and ensuring welfare and providing relief to
women; and take up the issue arising out of such matters' with appropriate
authorities; (g)
call for special studies or investigations into specific problems
or situations arising out of discrimination and atrocities against women and
identify the constraints so as to recommended strategies for their removal; (h)
undertake promoted and educational research so as to suggest ways
of ensuring due representation of women in all spheres and identify factors
responsible for impending their advancement, such as lack of access to housing
and basic services, inadequate support services and technologies for reducing
drudgery and occupational health hazards and for increasing their productivity; (i)
participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic
development of women; (j)
evaluate the progress of the development of women under the State; (k)
inspect or cause to be inspected a jail, remand home, women's
institution or other place of custody where women are kept as prisoners or
otherwise and take up with the concerned authorities for remedial action, if
found necessary; (l)
fund litigation involving issues affecting a large body of women; (m)
?make periodical reports to
the Government on any matter pertaining to women and in particular various
difficulties under which women toil; (n)
?any other matter which may
be referred to it by the Government. (2)
The Government shall cause all the reports referred to in clause
(b) of sub-section (1) to be laid before each House of the State Legislature
alongwith a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on
the recommendations and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of
such recommendations. (3)
The Commission shall, while investigating any matter referred to
in clause (a) or sub-clause (i) of clause (f) of sub-section (1) have all the
powers of a civil court trying a suit and, in particular, in respect of the
following matters, namely:? (a)
summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part
of India and examining him on oath; (b)
requiring the discovery and production of any document; (c)
receiving evidence on affidavits; (d)
requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or
office; (e)
issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and
documents; and (f) any other matter which
may be prescribed. (1)
The Government shall, after due appropriation made by State
Legislature by law in this behalf, pay to the Commission by way of grants such
sums of money as the Government may think fit for being utilized to purpose of
this Act. (2)
The Commission may spend such sum as it thinks fit for performing
the functions under this Act, and such sums shall be treated as expenditure
payable out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1). (1)
The Commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant
records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be
prescribed by the Government. (2)
The accounts of the Commission shall be audited by the Comptroller
and Auditor General at such intervals as may be specified by him and any
expenditures incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the
Commission to the Comptroller and Auditor General. (3)
The Comptroller and Auditor General and any person appointed by
him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the Commission under this
Act shall have the same rights and privileges and the authority in connection
with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor General generally has in
connection with the audit of the Government accounts and, in particular shall
have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers
and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the
Commission. (4)
The accounts of the Commission, as certified by the Comptroller
and Auditor General or any other person appointed by him in this behalf,
together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the
Government by the Commission. The Commission shall
prepare in such form and at such time for each financial year, as may be
prescribed, its annual report, giving a full account of its activities during
the previous financial year and forward a copy thereof to the Government. The Government shall cause
the annual report together with a memorandum of action taken on the
recommendations contained therein and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if
any, of any of such recommendations and the audit report to be laid as soon as
may be after the reports are received before each House of State Legislature. The Chairperson, the
members, officers and other employees of the Commission shall be deemed to be
public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Ranbir Penal Code. The Government shall
consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting women. (1)
The Government may, by notification in the Government Gazette,
make rules for carrying out the provisions of this Act. (2)
In Particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following
matters, namely :? (a)
salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and
conditions of service of the Chairperson and Members under sub-section (5) of
section 4 and of officers and other employees under sub-section (2) of section
5; (b)
allowances for attending the meetings of the committee by the
co-opted persons under sub-section (3) of section 8; (c)
other matters under clause (f) of sub-section (4) of section 10; (d)
the form in which the annual statement of accounts shall be
maintained under sub-section (1) of section 1 2; (e)
the form in, and the time at which the annual report shall be
prepared under section 13; (f)
any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed. (3)
?Every rule made under this
Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of
State Legislature, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days
which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions,
and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or
the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification
in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule
shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as
the case may be so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be
without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.
Preamble - THE JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE COMMISSION FOR WOMEN ACT,
1999 [REPEALED]PREAMBLE