(No. 15 of
1996) [26th September, 1996] Received
the assent of the President on the 26th September. 1996, assent first published
in the "Madhya Pradesh Gazette (Extra-ordinary)" dated the 1st October,
1996. An Act to
constitute a State Commission for Minorities and to provide for matters
connected therewith or incidental thereto. Be it
enacted by the Madhya Pradesh State Legislature in the Forty-seventh Year of
the Republic of India as follows: CHAPTER I Preliminary (1)
This Act may be called The
Madhya Pradesh Rajya Alpsankhyak Ayog Adhiniyam, 1996. (2)
It extends to the whole of
Madhya Pradesh. (3)
It shall [1][come
into force on such date] as the State
Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. In this
Act, unless the context otherwise requires : (a)
"Commission" means
the Madhya Pradesh State Commission for Minorities constituted under Section 3; (b)
"Member" means
a Member of the Commission; [2][(c)
"Minority" for
the purpose of this Act means,- (i)
a Community notified as such by the Central
Government for the purpose of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 (No.
19 of 1992), or (ii)
a Community notified as such by the State
Government.] CHAPTER II The Madhya Pradesh
State Commission for Minorities (1)
The State Government shall
constitute a body to be known as the Madhya Pradesh State Commission for
Minorities to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions
assigned to it under this Act. (2)
The Commission shall consist
of a Chairperson and two members to be nominated by the State Government from
amongst persons of eminence, ability and integrity : Provided
that the Chairperson and one member shall be from amongst the minority
communities. (1)
The Chairperson and every
member shall hold office for a term of three years from the date he assumes
charge. (2)
The Chairperson or a Member
may, by writing under his hand addressed to the State Government, resign from
the office of Chairperson or, as the case may be, of the Member at any time. (3)
The State 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)
is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment
for an offence which, in the opinion of the State Government, involve moral
turpitude; (c)
becomes of unsound mind and stands 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)
has, in the opinion of the State Government
so abused the position of Chairperson or Member as to render that person's
continuance in office detrimental to the interests of minorities or the public
interest: Provided
that no person shall be removed under this clause until he 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. The State
Government shall provide the Commission with a secretary and such other
officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the
functions of the Commission under this Act. The
salaries and allowances payable to the Chairperson and Members and the
Administrative expenses, including salaries and allowances payable to the
officers and other employees shall be paid out of the grants referred to in
sub-section (1) of Section 10. No act or
proceedings of the Commission shall be questioned or shall be invalid merely on
the ground of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the Constitution of the
Commission. (1)
The headquarters of the
Commission shall be at Bhopal. (2)
The Commission shall
regulate its own procedure. (3)
All orders and decisions of
the Commission shall be authenticated by the Secretary or any other officer of
the Commission duly authorised by the Secretary in this behalf. CHAPTER III Functions of The
Commission (1)
The Commission shall perform
all or any of the following functions, namely- (a)
Evaluate the progress of the development of minorities
under the State; (b)
monitor the working of the safeguards
provided in the Constitution and in laws enacted by the Parliament and the
State Legislature; (c)
make recommendations for the effective
implementation of safeguards for the protection of the interests of minorities
by the State Government; (d)
look into specific complaints regarding
deprivation of rights and safeguards of the minorities and take up such matters
with appropriate authorities under the control of the State Government; (e)
cause studies to be undertaken into problems
arising out of any discrimination against minorities and recommend measures for
their removal; (f)
conduct studies, research and analysis on the
issue relating to socio-economic and educational development of minorities, (g)
suggest appropriate measures in respect of
any minority to be undertaken by the State Government; (h)
make periodical or special reports to the
State Government on any matter pertaining to minorities and in particular
difficulties faced by them; and (i)
any other matter which may be referred to it
by the State Government: Provided
that if any recommendation made by the Commission is repugnant to the
recommendation made by the National Commission for Minorities on any matter
relating to the State of Madhya Pradesh then the recommendation made by the
State Commission shall prevail. (2)
The-Commission shall, while
performing any of the functions mentioned in sub-clauses (a), and (d) 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 any enforcing the attendance of
any person from any part of the State 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 office; (e)
issuing commissions for examination of
witnesses and documents; and (f)
any other matter which may be prescribed. CHAPTER IV Finance, Accounts
and Audit (1)
The State Government, shall
after due appropriation made by the State Legislature by law in this behalf,
pay to the Commission by way of grants such sums of money as State Government
may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of this Act. (2)
The Commission may spend
such sums 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
account in such form as may be prescribed by the State Government in
consultation with the Accountant General, Madhya Pradesh. (2)
The Accounts of the
Commission shall be audited by the Accountant General at such intervals as may
be specified by him and any expenditure in connection with such audit shall be
payable by the Commission to the Accountant General. (3)
The Accountant 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
authority in connection with such audit as the Accountant General generally has
connection with the audit of 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. The
Commission shall prepare, in such form and by such date 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
State Government. The State
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 such recommendations and the audit report to be laid
as soon as may be after the report is received, before the Legislative
Assembly. CHAPTER V Miscellaneous The
Chairperson, Members and employees of the Commission shall be deemed to be
public servants within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code. (1)
The State Government may, by
notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the
provisions of this Act. (2)
In particular, and without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing powers, 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
subsection (5) of Section 4; (b)
any other matter under clause (f) of
sub-section (2) of Section 9; (c)
the form in which the account shall be
maintained and the annual statement of accounts shall be prepared under
sub-section (1) of Section 11; (d)
the form in, and the date by which the annual
report shall be prepared under Section 12; (e)
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 the Legislative
Assembly. If any
difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State
Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for
removing the difficulty. Notifications [3][(i)
?Notification under The National
Commission for Minorities Act, 1992-No. S.O. 816 (E), dated 22-10-1993.] -
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (c) of Section 2 of the National
Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 (19 of 1992), the Central Government hereby
notifies the following Communities as "the Minority Communities" for
the purposes of the said Act, namely- 1.
Muslims, 2. Christians, 3. Sikhs, 4.
Buddhists, 5. Joroastrians (Parsis). [4][(ii)
Notification under The M.P. Rajya Alpsankhyak Ayog Adhiniyam, 1996-No.
11-18/98/54-2, dated 29-5-2001.] - In exercise of the
powers conferred by sub-clause (2) of clause (c) of Section 2 of The Madhya
Pradesh Alpsankhayak Ayog Adhiniyam, 1996 (No. 15 of 1996) the Madhya Pradesh
State hereby notifies native of Jain Community Madhya Pradesh as Minority
Community for the purposes of the said Act. [1] Came into force w.e.f. 23-10-1996 vide
Notification No. 1098-1985-54 (2)-96 dated 22-10-1996. Published in M.P.
Gazette Extraordinary 23-10-1996. [2] Substituted by M.P. Act No. 11 of 2001
Section 2, (w.e.f. 12-4-2001). [3] Published in the Gazette of India
(Extra.) Part II Section 3(ii) dated 23rd October., 1993 (S.N. 633). [4] Published in M.P. Rajpatra (Asadharan)
No. 307, dated 29-5-2001.Madhya Pradesh Rajya Alpsankhyak Ayog Adhiniyam, 1996