Manipur (Hill Areas District Council) Act, 1971
Act No: 76
[26th December, 1971.]
- Part 1 -

Section: THE MANIPUR (HILL AREAS) DISTRICT COUNCILS ACT, 1971 ACT NO. 76 OF 1971 [26th December, 1971.]

An Act to provide for the establishment of District Councils in the Hill Areas in the Union territory of Manipur. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty-second Year of the Republic of India as follows:--

1. Short title and extent.
(1) This Act may be called the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils Act, 1971.
(2) It extends to the whole of the Union territory of Manipur.

2. Definitions.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--
(a) "Administrator" means the administrator of the Union territory of Manipur appointed under article 239 of the Constitution;

(b) "autonomous district" means an autonomous district referred to in sub-section (1) of section 3;

(c) "building" includes a house, out-house, stable, latrine, urinal, shed, hut, wall (other than boundary wall) and any other structure (whether of masonry, bricks, wood, mud or other material) but does not include any portable or temporary shelter;

(d) "constituency" means a District Council constituency provided by order made under section 5 for the purpose of elections to the District Council;

(e) "Deputy Commissioner", in relation to any District Council, means the officer appointed as such by the Administrator, by notification in the Official Gazette, to perform the functions of the Deputy Commissioner under this Act in the autonomous district for which such District Council has been constituted; 1046

(f) "Hill Areas" means the Hill Areas determined by the President by any notification issued under sub-section (2) of section 52 of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 (20 of 1963), and in force immediately before the commencement of this Act;

(g) "Hill Areas Committee" means the Standing Committee referred to in section 52 of the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 (20 of 1963);

(h) "market" includes any place where persons assemble for the sale of, or for the purpose of exposing for sale of, meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, animals intended for human food or any other articles of human food whatsoever with or without the consent of the owner of such place notwithstanding that there may be no common regulation for the concourse of buyers and sellers and whether or not any control is exercised over the business of, or the persons frequenting, the market by the owner of the place or by any other persons;

(i) "member" means a member of a District Council constituted under this Act;

(j) "Official Gazette" means the Gazette of the Union territory of Manipur;

(k) "person" does not include a body of persons;

(l) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;

(m) "Scheduled Tribes" has the same meaning assigned to it in clause (25) of article 366 of the Constitution;

(n) "vehicle" includes a carriage, cart, hand-cart, bicycle, tricycle and every wheeled conveyance which is used or is capable of being used on a street but does not include a mechanically propelled vehicle.

CHAPTER 2: CONSTITUTION OF DISTRICT COUNCILS

3. Division of Hill Areas into autonomous districts.

(1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the Administrator shall cause all the Hill Areas to be divided into not more than six autonomous districts.

(2) The Administrator may, by order notified in the Official Gazette,--
(a) declare that any area in any autonomous district which is, or is intended to be, included within the limits of any municipality, cantonment or town committee shall cease to be a part of such autonomous district;

(b) increase the area of any autonomous district;

(c) diminish the area of any autonomous district;

(d) unite two or more autonomous districts or parts thereof so as to form one autonomous district;

(e) define the boundaries of any autonomous district;

(f) alter the name of any autonomous district.

(3) No order under sub-section (2) shall be made by the Administrator except after consultation with the Hill Areas Committee.

(4) Any order made by the Administrator under sub-section (2) may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as appear to the Administrator to be necessary for giving effect to the provisions of the order.

4. Constitution of District Councils and their composition.

(1) For each autonomous district there shall be a District Council as from such date as the Administrator may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in this behalf.

(2) The total number of seats in the District Council to be filled by persons chosen by direct election on the basis of adult suffrage from territorial constituencies shall be not more than eighteen.

(3) The Administrator may nominate not more than two persons, not being persons in the service of Government, to be members of any District Council.

5. Delimitation of constituencies.

The Administrator shall, by order, determine—
(a) the constituencies (which shall be single member constituencies) into which an autonomous district shall be divided for the purpose of election of members to the District Council of that district; and

(b) the extent of each constituency.

6. Power to alter or amend delimitation orders.

The Administrator may, from time to time, by order, alter or amend any order made under section 5.

7. Qualifications for membership.

A person shall not be qualified to be chosen as a member of a District Council of any autonomous district unless he is an elector for any District Council constituency in that autonomous district.

8. Disqualifications for membership.

(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as a member of a District Council if he is for the time being disqualified for being chosen as a member of either House of Parliament or holds any office of profit under any District Council.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under a District Council by reason only that he is a member thereof.

9. Electors on electoral rolls.

(1) The persons entitled to vote at elections of members of a District Council shall be the persons entitled, by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (43 of 1950), to be registered as voters at elections to the House of the People.

(2) So much of the electoral roll for any parliamentary constituency for the time being in force as relates to the areas comprised within a constituency formed under section 5 shall be deemed to be the electoral roll for that constituency for the purposes of this Act.

10. Right to vote.

1) Every person whose name is, for the time being, entered in the electoral roll of a constituency shall be entitled to vote at the election of a member of the District Council from that constituency.

(2) Every person shall give one vote and no more to any one candidate at an election. (4)

11. Election of members.

Election of members of a District Council shall be held in accordance with the rules made under section 21 on such date or dates as the Administrator may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct: Provided that a casual vacancy shall be filled as soon as may be after the occurrence of the vacancy: Provided further that no election shall be held to fill up a casual vacancy occurring within four months prior to the holding of a general election under this section.

12. Notification of results of elections.

The names of all persons elected or nominated to be members of a District Council shall be published by the Administrator in the Official Gazette.

13. Term of office of members.

(1) Save as otherwise provided in this section, the term of office of a member shall be five years and shall commence from the date of the notification of his election or nomination under section 12 or from 1049 the date on which the vacancy in which he is elected or nominated has occurred, whichever date is later: Provided that the Adminstrator may, when satisfied that it is necessary in order to avoid administrative difficulty, extend the term of office of all the members by such period not exceeding one year as he thinks fit. (2) The term of office of a member elected to fill a casual vacancy shall commence from the date of the notification of his election and shall continue so long only as the member in whose place he is elected would have been entitled to hold office if the vacancy had not occurred.

14. Disputes as to elections.

(1) No election of a member shall be called in question except by an election petition presented to the court of the District Judge having jurisdiction in the area in which the constituency concerned is situated, within thirty days from the date of the notification of the result of the election under section 12.

(2) An election petition calling in question any such election may be presented on one or more of the grounds specified in section 16 by any candidate at such election or by any elector of the constituency.

(3) A petitioner shall join as respondents to his petition all the candidates at the election.

(4) An election petition—
(a) shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the petitioner relies;

(b) shall, with sufficient particulars, set forth the ground or grounds on which the election is called in question; and

(c) shall be signed by the petitioner and verified in the manner laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), for the verification of pleadings.

15. Relief that may be claimed by petitioner.

A petitioner may, in addition to claiming a declaration that the election of all or any of the returned candidates is void, claim a further declaration that he himself or any other candidate has been duly elected.

16. Grounds on which an election may be called in question.

The election of a returned candidate may be called in question on any one or more of the following grounds, namely:--
(a) that on the date of his election the returned candidate was not qualified to be elected, or he was disqualified for being elected, as a member under this Act; or

(b) that the nomination paper of any candidate at the election has been improperly rejected; or

(c) that the result of the election has been materially affected by the improper acceptance of a nomination paper or by the improper acceptance or refusal of a vote or by any other cause.

17. Procedure to be followed by the District Judge.

The procedure provided in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in regard to suits shall be followed by the court of the District Judge, as far as it can be made applicable, in the trial and disposal of an election petition under this Act.

18. Decision of the District Judge.

(1) At the conclusion of the trial of an election petition, the court of the District Judge shall make an order—
(a) dismissing the election petition; or

(b) declaring the election of all or any of the returned candidates to be void; or

(c) declaring the election of all or any of the returned candidates to be void and the petitioner or any other candidate to have been duly elected.

(2) If any person who has filed an election petition has, in addition to calling in question the election of the returned candidate, claimed a declaration that he himself or any other candidate has been duly elected and the court of the District Judge is of opinion—

(a) that in fact the petitioner or such other candidate received a majority of the valid votes; or

(b) that but for the votes obtained by the returned candidate, the petitioner or such other candidate would have obtained a majority of the valid votes, the court of the District Judge shall, after declaring the election of the returned candidate to be void, declare the petitioner or such other candidate, as the case may be, to have been duly elected.

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