State Act

The Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act.

7[37. Mayor and Deputy Mayor.— 8[(1) The Corporation shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), at its first meeting after the general elections, elect from amongst the Councillors one of its number to be the Mayor and another to be Deputy Mayor. The tenure of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor shall be of two and a half years: Provided that, the term of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor in office on the date of coming into force of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Act, 2000 (Mah. XXV of 2000) shall be extended to, and be co-terminus with, the term of the office of the elected Councillors: Provided further that, the roster relating to the reservation of the office of the Mayor shall be deemed to have been amended to provide for the extended tenure of the Mayor.] (2) There shall be reservation for the office of the Mayor in the Corporation, by rotation, for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Women and the Backward Class of citizens, in the prescribed manner. 9[(2A) Every person desirous of contesting election to the office of the Mayor reserved for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or, as the case may be, Backward Class of Citizens, shall be required to submit, alongwith the nomination paper, Caste Certificate issued by the Competent Authority and the Validity Certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee in accordance with provisions of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-notified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Act, 2000 (Mah. XXIII of 2001)]: 10[Provided that, a person who has applied to the Scrutiny Committee for the verification of his Caste Certificate before the date of filing of the nomination papers, but who has not received the Validity Certificate on the date of filing of the nomination papers shall submit, alongwith the nomination papers,— (i) a true copy of the application submitted by him to the Scrutiny Committee for issuance of the Validity Certificate or any other proof of having made such application to the Scrutiny Committee ; and (ii) an undertaking that he shall submit the Validity Certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee, within a period of six months from the date on which he is declared elected : Provided further that, if such person fails to produce the Validity Certificate within a period of six months from the date on which he is declared elected, his election shall be deemed to have been terminated retrospectively and he shall be disqualified for being the Mayor.] (3) The Mayor and the Deputy Mayor shall hold office until a new Mayor and a new Deputy Mayor have been elected under sub-section (1) and, in a year in which general elections have been held, shall do so notwithstanding that they have not been returned as Councillors on the results of the elections. (4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), on the date of commencement of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 1999 (Mah. XXVII of 1999), the term of office of the Mayor, who is in office on the said date, shall be deemed to have come to an end and he shall have vacated his office on the said date. The Mayor in office having so vacated his office, the first meeting for the purpose of election of the new Mayor, after the said date, shall be held by the Commissioner, within a period of seven days from the said date and all other provisions of this Act relating to such election shall, mutatis mutandis, apply: Provided that, the Mayor in office immediately before the said date shall continue till the new Mayor enter the office. (5) A retiring Mayor or Deputy Mayor shall be eligible for re-election to either office. (6) The Deputy Mayor may resign his office at any time by notice in writing to the Mayor and the Mayor may resign his office at anytime by notice in writing to the Corporation. (7) If any casual vacancy occurs in the office of the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor, the Corporation shall as soon as conveninently after the occurrence of the vacancy, choose one of its number to fill the vacancy and every Mayor or Deputy Mayor so elected shall hold office so long only as the person in whose place he is appointed would have been entitled to hold it if the vacancy had not occurred.] 1[(8) The Mayor or the Deputy Mayor may be removed from the office by the State Government, if he fails to convene two consecutive meetings of the corporation as specified by or under this Act, and the Mayor or Deputy Mayor so removed shall not be eligble for re-election or re-appointment as Mayor or, as the case may be, Deputy Mayor during the remainder term of his office: Provided that, no such Mayor or Deputy Mayor shall be removed from office, unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity to furnish an explanation: Provided further that, removal of the Mayor or Deputy Mayor from the office under this sub-section shall not affect his continuance as a Councillor for the remainder term of his office.]