State Act

The Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965.

63. Constitution of Subjects Committees of ‘A’ and ‘B’ Class Councils.— (1) Each Subjects Committee of the Council appointed under the last preceding section shall consist of such number of Councillors as the Council may determine, so however that the number of members of a Subjects Committee shall not be less than one-fourth or more than one-third of the total number of Councillors: Provided that, in so determining the number of the members of and Subjects Committee, a fraction shall be ignored: 1[Provided further that, on the Women and Child Welfare Committee, not less than seventy-five per cent. of the members shall be from amongst women Councillors: Provided also that, the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson on the Women and Child Welfare Committee shall be from amongst the women Councillor members thereof. Explanation.— For the purpose of computing the number of members at seventy-five per cent., fraction, if any, shall be rounded off to one.] (2) 2[The Collector shall, within seven days of the election of the President under section 51,] call a special meeting of the Council for the purpose of,— (a) determining the number of the members of each of the 3[* *] Subject Committees referred to in the last preceding section, and the Subjects Committee of which the Vice-President shall be the ex-officio Chairman, and 4[(b) nominating Councillors on the Subjects Committees in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2B):] Provided that, the President shall not be eligible for being a member of any of the Subjects Committees 5[but he shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, any Subjects Committee, except that he shall not be entitled to vote thereat.] 6[(2A) 7[(i)] The meeting called under sub-section (2) shall be presided over by the Collector or such officer as the Collector may by order in writing appoint in this behalf. The Collector or such officer shall, when presiding over such meeting have the same powers as the President of a Council, when presiding over a meeting of the Council has, but shall not have the right to vote. 8[(ii) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, for regulating the procedure at meetings (including the quorum thereat), the Collector or such officer may, for reasons which in his opinion are sufficient, refuse to adjourn the meeting convened as per the provisions of sub-section (2), after it was once cancelled or adjourned for want of quorum.] 9[(2B) In nominating the Councillors, the Collector shall take into account the relative strength of recognised parties or registered parties or groups and nominate members, as nearly as may be, in proportion to the strength of such parties or groups in the Council, after consulting the leader of each such party or group: 10[Provided that, the relative strength of the recognized parties or registered parties or groups or aghadi or front shall be calculated by first dividing the total number of Councillors by the total strength of members of the Committee. The number of Councillors of the recognized parties or registered parties or groups or aghadi or front shall be further divided by the quotient of this division. The figures so arrived at shall be the relative strength of the respective recognized parties or registered parties or groups or aghadi or front. The seats shall be allotted to the recognized parties or registered parties or groups or aghadi or front by first considering the whole number of their respective relative strength so ascertained. After allotting the seats in this manner, if one or more seats remain to be allotted, the same shall be allotted one each to the recognized parties or registered parties or groups or aghadi or front in the descending order of the fraction number in the respective relative strength starting from the highest fraction number in the relative strength, till all the seats are allotted:] Provided further that, for the purpose of deciding the relative strength of the recognised parties or registered parties or groups under this sub-section, the recognised parties or registered parties or groups, or elected Councillor not belonging to any such party or group may, notwithstanding anything contained in the Maharashtra Local Authority Members’ Disqualification Act, 1986 (Mah. XX of 1987), within a period of not more than one month from the date of notification of election results, form the aghadi or front and, on its registration, the provisions of the said Act shall apply to the members of such aghadi or front, as if it is a pre-poll aghadi or front. (2C) If any question arises as regards the number of Councillors to be nominated on behalf of such party or group, the decision of the Collector shall be final.] (4) The Chairman of every Subjects Committee (other than the Subjects Committee of which the Vice-President is to be the ex-officio Chairman) shall be elected by the members of that Committee at the meeting convened under sub-section (2): Provided that, no Councillor shall be eligible to be the Chairman of more than one Subjects Committee.