[3
of 2025] [17th
January 2025] An Act further to amend the
Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961 (No. 37 of 1961). Be it enacted by the
Chhattisgarh Legislature in the Seventy-fifth Year of the Republic of India. (1)
This Act may be called the Chhattisgarh
Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2024. (2)
It shall extend to the whole State of
Chhattisgarh. (3)
It shall come into force with effect from the
date of its publication in the Official Gazette. After clause (25-a) of
Section 3 of the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961 (No. 37 of 1961)
(hereinafter referred to as the Principal Act), the following proviso shall be
added, namely:- "Provided that,
population of Other Backward Class means, such figures of population, which
have been determined in the prescribed manner." In Section 19 of the
Principal Act,- (i)
for clause (a) of sub-section (1), the
following clause shall be substituted, namely:- "(a)
a President, that is Chairperson, elected by the direct election from the
Municipal area;" (ii)
for sub-section (4), the following
sub-section shall be substituted, namely: - "(4)
If any municipal area fails to elect a President or any ward fails to elect a
councilor, fresh election proceedings shall be commenced for such municipal
area or ward, as the case may be, within six months to fill the seat and until
the seat is filled, it shall be treated as casual vacancy: Provided that proceedings of
election of Vice-President or any of the Committees under the Act shall not be
stayed, pending the election to such seat." For sub-clause (iii) of
clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 20 of the Principal Act, the following
sub-clause shall be substituted, namely:- "(iii)
in the case of election of President by any Voter of the Municipal area;" For sub-section (2) of
Section 29-A of the Principal Act, the following sub-section shall be
substituted, namely:- "(2)
In such municipalities where less than fifty percent seats are reserved for
Scheduled Castes and/or Scheduled Tribes then as nearly as possible remained
seats shall be reserved for Other Backward Classes proportionate to their
population but subject to the maximum limit of fifty percent of total seats and
such seats shall be allotted by rotation to different wards in such manner as
may be prescribed: Provided that under
sub-section (1), if the total reservation for Scheduled Castes and/or Scheduled
Tribes is fifty percent or more than fifty percent, then no seat shall be
reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs): Provided further that if no
nomination paper is filed for election, as a Councilor from any ward so
reserved, by any member of the Other Backward Classes then the Collector shall
be competent to declare it, as unreserved." In 29-B of the Principal
Act,- (i)
for sub-section (2), the following
sub-section shall be substituted, namely:- "(2)
In case, less than fifty percent of the total number of office of Presidents of
Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats of the State are reserved for Scheduled
Castes and/or Scheduled Tribes, then as nearly as possible remained seats shall
be reserved for Other Backward Classes, proportionate to their population but
subject to the maximum limit of fifty percent of the total seats: Provided that if the total reservation
for Scheduled Castes and/or Scheduled Tribes under sub-section (1) is fifty
percent or more than fifty percent, then no seat shall be reserved for Other
Backward Classes (OBCs)." (ii)
sub-section (4-A) shall be omitted. In Section 30 of the
Principal Act,- (i)
clause (a) shall be omitted. (ii)
after clause (d), the following clause shall
be added, namely:- "(e)
If the State Election Commission or an authority appointed by it, on an
application or on its own motion, is satisfied after such inquiry as it thinks
fit that any voter whose name is registered in the current assembly electoral
roll relatable to the ward of the Council, has been erroneously not included,
shall be incorporated in the electoral roll of concerned ward of Council." In sub-section (1) and (2)
of Section 32 of the Principal Act, before the word "Councilors"
wherever they occur, the words "Presidents and" shall be inserted. In heading of sub-section
(1) of Section 32-A of the Principal Act, for the word "Councilor",
the word "President" shall be substituted. In Section 32-B of the
Principal Act, for the word "Councilor", the word "President"
shall be substituted. In clause (b) of Section
32-C of the Principal Act, before the word "Councilor", the words
"President or" shall be inserted. In Section 33 of the Principal
Act, - (i)
after the word "Councilors", the
words "or President" shall be inserted; (ii)
for proviso, the following proviso shall be
substituted, namely:- "Provided that no
person shall vote more than once in any election of the Councilor or an
election of the President, as the case may be." In Section 34 of the
Principal Act, - (i)
for clause (a) of subsection (1), the
following clause shall be substituted, namely:- "(a)
for the election of President, if he is not less than 25 years of age,
and" (ii)
after sub-section (3), the following
sub-section shall be added, namely:- "(4)
If a person is elected for the office of President and Councilor both, he shall
have to resign from one of the offices within seven days from the date on which
he is declared to be elected." In Section 35 of the
Principal Act, - (i)
before the word "Councilor", the
words "President or" shall be inserted in the heading. (ii)
for clause (dd), the following clause shall
be substituted, namely:-"(dd) is less than twenty- five years of age, in
case of President and is less than twenty-one year of age in case of
Councilor;" After sub-section (4) of
Section 36 of the Principal Act, the following sub-section shall be added,
namely. "(5)
If before the expiry of the period mentioned in sub section (1), the
municipality/ nagar panchayat is not reconstituted, it shall stand dissolved on
the expiry of the said period and the provisions of Section 328 shall apply
thereto for a period not exceeding six months within which the municipality/
nagar panchayat shall be reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of
this Act." In Section 43 of the
Principal Act, - (i)
in the heading, before the word "Vice-
President", the words "the President and" shall be omitted. (ii)
for sub-section (1), the following
sub-section shall be substituted, namely: - "(1)
The President and the elected Councilor of the Council shall, at its first
meeting as referred to in sub-section (1) of Section 55, elect a Vice-President
from amongst the elected Councilors in the prescribed manner." (iii)
In sub-section (3), before the word
"Vice-President", the words "the President and" shall be
omitted. In Section 43-A of the
Principal Act, - (i)
in the heading, before the word
"Vice-President", the words "the President and" shall be
omitted. (ii)
in sub-section (1), before the word "Vice-President",
wherever they occur, the words "the President and" shall be omitted. (iii)
in clause (ii) of sub-section (2), the word
"Vice-President" shall be omitted. For Section 47 of the
Principal Act, the following Section shall be substituted, namely:- "47.
Recalling of President.- (1)
Every President of a Council shall forthwith
be deemed to have vacated his office if he is recalled through a secret ballot
by a majority of more than half of the total number of voters of the municipal
area casting the vote in accordance with the procedure as may be prescribed: Provided that no such
process of recall shall be initiated unless a proposal is signed by not less
than three-fourth of the total number of the elected Councilors and presented
to the Collector: Provided further that no
such process shall be initiated, - (i)
within a period of two years from the date on
which such President is elected and enters his office; (ii)
if half of the period of tenure of the
President elected in a by-election has not expired: Provided also that process
for recall of the President shall be initiated once in his whole term. (2)
The Collector, after satisfying himself and
verifying that the three-fourth of the Councilors specified in sub-section (1)
have signed the proposal of recall, shall send the proposal to the State
Government and the State Government shall make a reference to the State
Election Commission. (3)
On receipt of the reference, the State
Election Commission shall arrange for voting on the proposal of recall in such
manner as may be prescribed." For Section 55 of the
Principal Act, the following Section shall be substituted, namely:- "55.
First Meeting after General Election- (1)
The Chief Municipal Officer shall, with the
approval of prescribed authority, within one month from the date of the further
publication of the notification of every general election, call a meeting of
the elected Councilors for the purpose of electing a Vice-President. (2)
The first meeting of the council called under
subsection (1) shall be presided over by such officer not below the rank of
Deputy Collector in the case of Municipal Council and not below the rank of
Tahsildar in the case of Nagar Panchayat, appointed by the Collector and all
provisions contained in this Chapter regarding meetings of the Council shall,
as far as may be, apply in respect of such meeting: Provided that the presiding
officer shall not have the right to vote at such meeting and in case of equality
of votes, the result shall be decided by lot." In sub-section (2) of
Section 56 of the Principal Act, after the figure and word "43-A",
the figure "47" shall be inserted. In proviso of clause (iii)
of subsection (3) of Section 62 of the Principal Act, after the figure and word
"43-A", the word and figure "or 47" shall be inserted. In the proviso of Section 63
of the Principal Act, before the word "Chairman", the words
"Vice-President, or the" shall be inserted. In clause (b) of sub-section
(1) of Section 328 of the Principal Act, before the word
"Vice-President", wherever they occur, the words "President
and" shall be omitted. The Chhattisgarh
Municipalities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 (No. 1 of 2024) and the Chhattisgarh
Municipalities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024 (No. 4 of 2024) is hereby, repealed.The Chhattisgarh Municipalities (Amendment) Act, 2024
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