RAJASTHAN
PANCHAYAT (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1961 THE RAJASTHAN PANCHAYAT (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1961 [Act No. 10 of 1961] [03rd April, 1961] An Act further to amend the Rajasthan Panchayat Act, 1953. Be it enacted by the
Rajasthan State Legislature in the Twelfth Year of the Republic of India as
follows:-- This Act may be called the
Rajasthan Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 1961. (1)
In section 5 of the Rajasthan Panchayat Act, 1953 (Rajasthan Act
21 of 1953) hereinafter referred to as the principal Act, after the word
"Collector" the words or such subordinate gazetted officer of the
State Government as the Collector may authorise in this behalf" shall, as
from the 9th day of September, 1959, be inserted and be deemed to have been
inserted. (2)
The word "Collector", wherever appearing in rules 3, 4
and 5 of the Rajasthan Panchayat and Nyaya Panchayat Election Rules, 1960,
shall include and be deemed always to have included "such subordinate
gazetted officer of the State Government as the Collector may authorise in this
behalf." In section 7 of the
principal Act, as from the 28th day of October, I960,-- (a)
in sub-section (1), for the words "from the date of its first
meeting the words "from such date as may be notified by the State
Government in this behalf" shall be substituted and be deemed to have been
substituted; and (b)
in sub-Section (2)? (i)
the words "with a view to enabling the State Government
simultaneously to reconstitute such panchayats and to constitute panchayat
samitis under that Act" shall be omitted and be deemed to have been
omitted, and (ii)
after the words and figures "31st day of January 1961"
the words "or such earlier date as may be notified by the State Government
in this behalf" shall be inserted and be deemed to have been inserted. After section 8 of the
principal Act, the following new section shall, as from the 15th day of
December, 1960, be- inserted and be deemed to have been inserted, namely:-- "8A. Continuance and
validation of certain panchayats.-- (1)
For the removal of doubt it is hereby declared that every
panchayat, which commenced to function after the 9th day of September, 1959
otherwise than under sub-sections (2) to (4) of section 3, and of which the
area of jurisdiction has not thereafter been altered under section 86 or
section 86A, is not covered by the provision contained in sub-section (2) of
section 7 and shall continue so to function as such for the full term of office
as determinable under sub-section (1) of section 7. (2)
If to any such panchayat as is referred to in sub-section (1) an
additional panch could be but was not appointed under section 9 in its
unamended form, as it stood before its amendment by section 6 of the Rajasthan
Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 1960 (Rajasthan Act 25 of 1960), then,
notwithstanding the lack of the appointment of an additional panch thereto,
such panchayat shall be deemed to have been validly formed and all acts done,
and orders passed, by such panchayat up to the 31st day of January, 1961 shall
be deemed to have been done and passed lawfully and validly: Provided that, by the said
31st day of January, 1961 additional panchas to the said panchayat shall be
co-opted for the remaining term of its office under and in accordance with the
provisions contained in section 9 as amended by the aforesaid amendment Act of
1960 and the rules made thereunder." In section 10 of the
principal Act, as from the 31st day of October, 1960,-- (i)
in sub-section (1)? (a)
the words "by the Collector" shall be omitted and be
deemed to have been omitted, and (b)
after the words "prescribed manner", the words "by
or under the supervision of the Collector or such subordinate gazetted officer
of the State Government, as the Collector may authorise in this behalf"
shall be inserted and be deemed to have been inserted; (ii)
after sub-section (1), the following new sub-section shall be
inserted and be deemed to have been inserted, namely:-- "(1A) Every person,
who is qualified to be registered in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly electoral
roll relatable to the area comprised in the panchayat circle or a ward thereof
or whose name is entered in such roll, shall be entitled to be registered in
the list of voters of such panchayat circle or ward, as the case may be: Provided that no such person
shall be entitled to be so registered more than once or in more than one ward
of the same panchayat circle."; and (iii) in
sub-section (2), between the words "shall" and "conform"
the words, brackets, figure and letter "subject to the provisions of
sub-section (1A) and further subject to any rules made in this behalf shall be
inserted and be deemed to have been inserted. For clause (a) of section
11 of the principal Act, the following shall be substituted, namely:-- "(a) holds a salaried
whole-time or part-time appointment under the Central Government or a State
Government or a local authority;". After subsection (2) of
section 16 of the principal Act, the following new sub-sections shall be
inserted, namely:-- "(3) If the Sarpanch
of a panchayat is elected as the Pradhan of a panchayat samiti or as the
Pramukh of a Zila Parishad under the Rajasthan Panchayat Samitis and Zila
Parishads Act, 1959 (Rajasthan Act 37 of 1959)-- (i)
he shall, on and from the date of his election as such Pradhan or
Pramukh, as the case may be, nominally continue to be the Sarpanch of that
panchayat for so long as he would have but for such election held office as
such Sarpanch, (ii)
during that period he shall neither have any hand in the
administration of the affairs of that panchayat nor participate in the meetings
thereof, (iii)
he shall hand over charge of all papers and properties pertaining
to his office as such Sarpanch, as provided in section 15A, to the Up-Sarpanch
of the panchayat who shall, subject to the provision contained in sub-section
(4), thereafter act, during that period, as Sarpanch for all practical purposes
and represent the panchayat on the panchayat samiti concerned as a member of
the latter, (iv)
fresh elections to the office of the Sarpanch of that panchayat
shall not be held during the said period, and (v)
if during that period he vacates the office of the Pradhan or
Pramukh upon removal or otherwise, he will resume charge of the office of the
Sarpanch and shall as such replace the Up-Sarpanch as a representative of the
panchayat on the panchayat samiti. (4) If an Up-Sarpanch
representing under clause (iii) of subsection (3) a panchayat on the panchayat
samiti concerned as a member of the latter is elected Pradhan of that panchayat
samiti under the Rajasthan Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads Act, 1959
(Rajasthan Act 37 of 1959), such Up-Sarpanch shall, as from the date of such
election, cease to be the Up-Sarpanch of the panchayat and fresh elections to
the office of the Up-Sarpanch of that panchayat shall be immediately
held". After section 27C of the
principal Act, the following new section shall, as from the 28th day of
October, 1960, be inserted and be deemed to have been inserted, namely:-- "27CC. When Nyaya
Panchayats may be formed.-- Notwithstanding anything
contained in section 24 of the Rajasthan General Clauses Act, 1955 (Rajasthan
Act 8 of 1955) or in any other law for the time being in force-- (a)
rules made by the State Government for the formation of Nyaya
Panchayats under sections 27B and 27C shall come into force on the date on
which they are published in the Official Gazette even though those sections had
not come into force on of before that date, and (b)
Nyaya Panchayats may be formed in accordance with those rules even
before the date on which sections 27B and 27C come into force so as to enable
them to function as from that date." In section 59 of the
principal Act, as from the 15th day of December, 1960,-- (a) after
sub-section (3), the following new sub-section shall be inserted and be deemed
to have been inserted, namely:-- "(3A) All appeals
pending before Tehsil Panchayats at the commencement of sections 37 and 38 of
the Rajasthan Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 1960 (Rajasthan Act 25 of 1960) shall
stand transferred-- (i)
if they had arisen out of a suit, to the Munsif having
jurisdiction or, where there is no such Munsif, to the Civil Judge having
jurisdiction, and (ii)
if they had arisen out of a case, to the Magistrate of the first
class having jurisdiction, and shall be disposed of as
such by the Munsif, Civil Judge or Magistrate in accordance with law and, in
doing so, he may confirm, reverse or modify the decision or order appealed
from,", and (b) in
sub-section (4), after the word, brackets and figure "sub-section
(3)", the words, brackets, figure and letter "or sub-section
(3A)" shall be inserted and be deemed to have been inserted. After section 65C of the
principal Act, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-- "65D. Enforcement of
compulsory labour for construction of work of general public utility.-- (1) Notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act or in any other enactment for the time being in
force, a panchayat may, by resolution passed at a special meeting thereof by a
majority of not less than two-thirds of the whole number of its panchas
including the Sarpanch, direct, in respect of any work of general public utility
meant exclusively for its panchayat circle as a whole, which the panchayat
proposes to undertake, that such work shall be constructed with the manual
labour of the adult male residents of the panchayat circle, each such adult
male resident being required to render such labour in relation to such work for
such number of days as the panchayat may determine in the prescribed manner: Provided that no individual
shall be required to render such labour in relation to any such work or any
number of such works, taken together, for a total period exceeding twelve days
in a year in the aggregate. (2)
In making the direction under sub-section (1), the panchayat shall
have the power,-- (i)
to exempt such adult male residents of the panchayat circle, as
are blind or lame or in any way incapacitated physically or mentally or found
to be medically unfit for the purpose, from rendering such manual labour, and (ii)
to recover from any adult male resident of the panchayat circle,
required to render manual labour as aforesaid, a money equivalent thereof,
calculated on the basis of the rate of wages current in the locality for like
labour, for the whole of the period for which he is required to render but does
not render manual labour in accordance with sub-section (1). (3) For the
purpose of this section a person who has attained or will attain the age of
twenty one years on the date on which he is required to render manual labour
shall be deemed to be an adult. (4) No
resolution passed under sub-section (1) shall come into operation until it has
been submitted, in the prescribed manner and after observing the prescribed
formalities, to, and has been approved by, the State Government or any officer
or authority appointed by the State Government in this behalf. (5)
The provisions of this section are in addition to, and not
derogatory or exclusive of, the provisions contained in section 65 and the
rules made thereunder." After section 73 of the
principal Act, the following new section shall, as from the 28th day of
October, 1960, be inserted and be deemed to have been inserted, namely:-- "73A. Term of office
of panchayats reconstituted upon supersession or dissolution.-- Notwithstanding anything
contained in section 7 or in any other provision of this Act the term of office
of a panchayat reconstituted upon supersession or dissolution of an earlier
panchayat under section 73 shall be the residue of the term of the superseded
or dissolved panchayat". After section 83 of the
principal Act, the following new sections shall as from the 23rd day of
November, 1960, be inserted and be deemed to have been inserted namely:- "83A. Requisitioning
of vehicles, etc. for purposes of general elections.-- (1)
If appears to the Collector that, in connection with the general
elections to be held under this Act; any vehicle, vessel or animal is needed or
is likely to be needed for the purpose of transport of ballot boxes to or from
any polling station, or transport of members of the police force for
maintaining order during the conduct of such election, or transport of any
officer or other person for performance of any duties in connection with any
such election, the Collector may by order in writing requisition such vehicle,
vessel or animal, as the case may be, and may make such further orders as may
appear to him to be necessary or expedient in connection with the
requisitioning-Provided- that no vehicle, vessel or animal which is being
lawfully used by a candidate or his agent for any purpose in connection with
the election of such candidate shall be requisitioned under the sub-section
until the completion of the poll at such election. (2)
The requisition shall be effected by an order in writing addressed
to the person deemed by the Collector to be the owner or person in possession
of the vehicle, vessel or animal and such order shall be served in the
prescribed manner on the person to whom it is addressed. (3)
Whenever any vehicle, vessel or animal is requisitioned under
sub-section (1), the period of such requisition shall not extend beyond the
period for which the same is required for any of the purposes mentioned in that
sub-section. (4)
In this section the word "vehicle" means any vehicle
used or capable of being used for the purpose of road transport, whether
propelled by mechanical power or otherwise. 83B. Payment of
compensation.-- (1) Whenever
in pursuance of section 83A the Collector requisitions any vehicle, vessel or
animal there shall be paid to the owner thereof, out of the Consolidated Fund
of the State, compensation the amount of which shall be determined by the
Collector on the basis of the fares or rates prevailing in the locality for the
hire of such vehicle, vessel or animal: Provided that, where the
owner of such vehicle, vessel or animal being aggrieved by the amount of
compensation so determined makes an application within the prescribed time to
the State Government, the amount of compensation to be paid shall be such as
the State Government may determine. (2) Where,
immediately before the requisitioning, the vehicle or vessel was by virtue of a
hire purchase agreement in the possession of a person other than the owner,
the. amount determined under sub-section (1) as the total compensation payable
in respect of the requisition shall be apportioned between that person and the
owner in such manner as they may agree upon, and, in default of agreement, in
such manner as the Collector or the State Government may decide. 83C. Power to obtain
information.-- The Collector may, with a
view to requisitioning any vehicle, vessel or animal under section 83A or determining
the amount of compensation payable under section 83B, by order, require any
person to furnish to such officer or authority as may be specified in the order
such information in his possession relating to such vehicle, vessel or animal
as may be so specified. 83D. Power of entry and
inspection.-- (1)
Any person authorised in this behalf by the Collector may enter
into or upon any land or premises and inspect any vehicle, vessel or animal
therein for the purpose of determining whether, and if so in what manner, an
order under section 83A should be made in relation to such vehicle, vessel or
animal, or with a view to securing compliance with any order made under that
section. (2)
In this section, the expression "vehicle" has the same
meaning as in section 83A. 83E. Penalty for
contravention of orders regarding requisitioning.-- If "any person
contravenes any order made under section 83A or section 83C, he shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with
fine or with both". The following are hereby
repealed, namely:-- (1)
sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Rajasthan Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis
and Zila Parishads (Amendment) Ordinance, 1960 (No. 11 of 1960), (2)
the Rajasthan Panchayat (Amendment) Ordinance, 1960 (No. 12 of
1960), (3)
the Rajasthan Panchayat (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 1960 (No. 15
of 1960), and (4) the
Rajasthan Panchayat (Third Amendment) Ordinance, 1960 (No. 19 of 1960).
Preamble - RAJASTHAN PANCHAYAT (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1961PREAMBLE