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55. Transaction
of business by the Corporation meetings. - (1)
The Corporation shall ordinarily hold at least one meeting in every
month for the transaction of business.
(2) The Mayor or in his absence the Senior Deputy Mayor. and in
the absence of both, the Deputy Mayor may, whenever he thinks fit.
and shall upon a requisition in writing by not less than one-fourth
of the total number of councillors, convene a special meeting of
the Corporation.
(3) Any meeting may be adjourned until the next or any subsequent
date, and an adjourned meeting may be further adjourned in like
manner,
56. First meeting of Corporation after
general elections. - The first meeting of the Corporation
after a general election shall be held as early as possible after
the publication of the results of the election of the councillors
under section 17 and shall be convened by the Divisional Commissioner.
57. Notice of meetings and business. - A list of the business to
be transacted at every meeting except' at an adjourned meeting shall
be sent to the registered address of each councillor at least seventy-two
hours before the time fixed for such meeting and no business shall
be brought before or transacted at, any meeting other than the business
of which a notice has been so given:
Provided that any councillor may send or deliver to the Corporation
Secretary notice of any resolution going beyond the matters mentioned
in the notice given of such meeting so as to reach him at least
forty-eight hours before the date fixed for the meeting and the
Corporation Secretary shall with all possible despatch take steps
to circulate such resolution to every councillor in such manner
as he may think fit.
Explanation, - In this section 'registered address' means the address
for the time being entered in the register of addresses of
councillors maintained in this behalf by the Corporation Secretary.
58. Quorum. - (1) The quorum necessary for the transaction
of business at a meeting of the Corporation shall be one-third of
the total number of members.
(2) If at any time during a meeting of the Corporation there is
no quorum it shall be the duty of the Mayor or the person presiding
over such meeting either to adjourn the meeting or to suspend the
meeting until there is a quorum.
(3) Where a meeting has been adjourned under sub-section (2), the
business which would have been brought before the original meeting
if there had been a quorum present thereat, shall be brought before,
and may be transacted at an adjourned meeting, whether there is
quorum present or not.
59. Presiding Officer. - (1)
The Mayor or in his absence, the Senior Deputy Mayor, and in the
absence of the both, the Deputy Mayor shall preside at every meeting
of the Corporation.
{2) In the absence of the Mayor and both the Deputy Mayors from
the meeting, the members present shall elect one from among their
own number to preside.
(3) The Mayor or the person presiding over a meeting shall have
and exercise a second or a casting vote in all cases of equality
of votes.
60. Meeting for election of Mayor.
- Notwithstanding anything contained in section 59 - {a) meeting
for the election of a Mayor shah be convened by the Divisional Commissioner
who shall also nominate a council who is not a candidate for such
election to preside over the meeting;
(b) if during the election of Mayor it appears that there is any
equality of votes between any candidates at such election and that
the addition of a vote would entitle any of those candidates to
be elected as
Mayor, then the person presiding over the meeting shall decide between
them by lot to be drawn in the presence of the candidates and in
such manner as he may determine, and the candidate on whom the lot
falls shall be deemed to have received an additional vote.
61. Method of deciding question.
- (1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act all matters required
to be decided by the Corporation shah be decided by the majority
of the votes of the members present and voting,
(2) The voting shall be by show of hands, but the Corporation may,
subject to such regulations as may be made by it, resolve that any
question or class of questions shah be decided by ballot.
(3) At any meeting, unless voting be demanded by at least four members,
a declaration by the presiding officer at such meeting that a resolution
has been carried or lost, and an entry to that effect in the minutes
of the proceedings shall, for the purposes of this Act be conclusive
evidence of the fact without proof of the number or proportion of
the votes recorded in favour of or against such resolution.
(4) If voting as aforesaid is demanded, the votes of all of the
members present who desire to vote shall be taken under the direction
of the Presiding Officer at the meeting and the result of the voting
shall be deemed to be resolution of the Corporation at such meeting.
62. Maintenance of order at and admission
of public to meetings, withdrawal and suspension of councillors.
- { 1 ) The Mayor or the person presiding over a meeting shall
preserve order thereat and shah have all
powers necessary for the purpose of preserving such order.
{2) The Mayor or the person presiding over a meeting may direct
any councillor whose conduct is in his opinion grossly disorderly
to withdraw immediately from the meeting, and any councillor so
directed to withdraw shall do so forthwith and shah absent himself
during the remainder of the meeting.
(3) If any councillor Is ordered to withdraw a second time within
fifteen days, the Mayor or the person presiding may suspend such
councillor from attending the meetings of the Corporation for any
period not exceeding fifteen days and the councillor so suspended
shall absent himself accordingly;
Provided that the Mayor may at any time terminate such suspension:
Provided further that such suspension shall not debar the suspended
councillor from serving on any committee of the Corporation of
which he is a member.
(4) Subject to sub-section {5) every meeting shall be open to the
public, unless a majority of the members present at the meeting
decide that any inquiry or deliberation pending before the Corporation
shall be held in private.
(5) The Corporation may make regulations for the purpose of admission
of the members of the public to its meetings and for the removal
by force, if necessary, of any member of the public admitted to
a meeting for interrupting or disturbing the proceedings of the
meeting.
{6) In the case of grave disorder arising in a meeting the Mayor
or the person presiding may, if he thinks it necessary to do so,
adjourn the meeting to a date specified by him.
63- Councillor not to vote on matter in
which he is interested. – No councillor shall vote at
a meeting of the Corporation or of any committee thereof on any
question relating to his own conduct or vote or take part in any
discussion on any matter {other than a matter affecting generally
the residents of the City or of any particular ward), which affects
his pecuniary interest or any property in respect of which he is
directly or indirectly interested, or any property of or for which
he is a manager or agent.
64. Right to attend meetings of Corporation
and its committees, etc. and right of councillors to ask questions
in relation to the municipal Government of City. - {1)
The Commissioner or any Corporation officer authorised by him in
this behalf may attend, speak in, or otherwise take part in the
proceedings of any meeting of the Corporation or any of its committees,
but he shall not be entitled to vote in any such meeting.
{2) A councillor may, subject to the provisions of sub-section {3),
ask the Commissioner, during first half of an hour of every meeting,
question on any matter relating to the municipal government of the
City or the administration of this Act.
(3) The right to ask a question shall be governed by the following
conditions, namely :-
{a)not less than seven clear days'
notice in writing specifying the question shall be given to the
Corporation Secretary:
(b)no question shall -
(i) bring in any name or statement
not strictly necessary to make the question intelligible,
(ii) contain arguments, ironical expressions, imputations, epithets
or defamatory statements.
(iii) ask for an expression of opinion or the solution of
a hypothetical proposition,
(iv) ask as to the character or conduct of any person except in
his official or public capacity,
(v) relate to a matter which is not primarily the concern of the
Corporation or any of the municipal authorities,
(vi) make or imply a charge of a personal character,
(vii) .raise question of policy too large 'to be dealt with within
the limits of an answer to a question.
(viii) repeat in substance questions already answered or to which
an answer has been refused,
(ix) ask for information on trivial matters,
(x) ordinarily ask for information on matters of past history,
(xi) ask for information set forth in accessible documents or
in ordinary works of reference,
(xi) raise matters under the control of bodies or persons not
primarily responsible to the Corporation, or,
(xiii) ask for any information on a matter which is under adjudication
by a Court of Law.
(4) The Mayor shall disallow any question
which is, in his opinion, in contravention of the provisions of sub-section
(3).
(5) If any doubt arises whether any question is or is not in contravention
of the provisions of sub-section (3), the Mayor shah decide the point
and his decision shall be final.
(6) The Commissioner shah not be bound to answer a question if it
asks for information which has been communicated to him in confidence
or if in the opinion of the Mayor it cannot be answered without prejudice
to public interest or the interest of the Corporation.
{7) Unless otherwise directed by the Mayor or the presiding officer
of the meeting every question shall be answered by the Commissioner
at a meeting of the Corporation.
65. Power to make regulations
- The Corporation may make regulations for the transaction of
business at its meetings and at the meetings of its ad hoc committees
and the manner in which notice of such meetings shall be given:
Provided that the time, place and procedure for the first meeting
after the constitution of the Corporation under section 4 shah be
determined by the Divisional Commissioner.
66. Presiding officer at meetings of ad hoc
committees. - ( 1 ) The Chairman or in his absence the
Deputy Chairman shall preside at every meeting of the ad hoc committee.
- (2) In the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman from
any meeting the members of any such committee shall choose one of
their number to preside over the meeting.
67. Keeping of minutes and proceedings.
- Minutes in which shall be recorded the names of the members
present at, and the proceedings of each meeting of the Corporation
and of committees shah be drawn up and recorded in a book to be kept
for the purpose and shah be laid before the next ensuing meeting of
the Corporation or of the committee, as the case may be and signed
at such meeting by the presiding officer thereof.
68. Circulation of minutes and inspection
of minutes and reports of proceedings - (1) Minutes of
the proceedings of each meeting of the Corporation shah be circulated
to the members of the Corporation and shall at the reasonable
times be available at the Corporation office for inspection by any
other person on payment of a fee prescribed by regulations.
(2) Full reports, if any, of such proceedings shall similarly be available
for inspection by any member of the Corporation without charge and
by any other person, on payment of a fee prescribed by regulations.
69. Forwarding minutes and reports of proceedings
to Divisional Commissioner. - (1) The Corporation Secretary
shall forward to the Divisional Commissioner as well as to the Government
a copy of the minutes
of the proceedings of each meeting of the Corporation within three
days from the date of the meeting.
(2) The Divisional Commissioner or the Government may also in any
case ask for a copy of any paper or all the papers which were laid
before the Corporation or any Committee thereof and the Corporation
Secretary shall forward to the Divisional Commissioner or Government,
as the case may be, a copy of such paper or papers.
70. Validation of proceedings, etc. -
(1) The Corporation shah have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy
in the membership thereof and no act done or the proceedings taken
under this Act shah be questioned on the ground merely of -
(a)the seat of any councillor remaining
unfilled from any cause whatsoever;
(b)the existence of any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution
of the Corporation, or in any committee thereof;
(c) any councillor having voted or taken part in any proceedings
in con-
travention of section 63;
(d) any defect or irregularity not affecting the merits of the case.
(2) Every meeting of the Corporation or of
any committee thereof, the minutes of proceedings of which have been
duly drawn up and signed shall be deemed to have been duly convened
and to be free from all defects and irregularities.. |
