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1

L. A. BILL No. XXII OF 2024.

A BILL

to provide for temporary postponement of elections of the President,

Vice-President and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of certain

Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of certain

Panchayat Samitis on account of ensuing general elections to the

State Legislative Assembly.

WHEREAS general elections to the State Legislative Assembly were

likely to be held in the month of November, 2024 ;

AND WHEREAS the term of offices of the President, Vice-President

and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of certain Zilla Parishads and

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of certain Panchayat Samitis were due to

expire in October-November 2024 ;

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MAHARASHTRA LEGISLATURE SECRETARIAT

The Following Bill was introduced in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on the

16^th December, 2024 is published under Rule 117 of the Maharashtra Legislative

Assembly Rules.

RNI No. MAHBIL/2009/40123

(1)

¦ÉÉMÉ {ÉÉSÉ-+-25-1.

BSɤÉÒ-2103-1.

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AND WHEREAS on account of general elections to the Maharashtra

Legislative Assembly, all the Collectors and staff of the Collectorate of the

Districts as well as the police personnel in the Districts were busy with

preparation for the ensuing general elections to the Maharashtra Legislative

Assembly and would have been occupied with the pre and post elections

duties ;

AND WHEREAS to rule out any possible overlapping of the said elections

and any possible undue pressure on civil and police administration and any

law and order problem or inconvenience to the citizens as well as to the

candidates, and electors concerned, it was considered expedient to

temporarily postpone the elections of the President, Vice-President and

Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of certain Zilla Parishads and the

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of certain Panchayat Samitis for a period

of three months ;

AND WHEREAS both Houses of the State Legislature were not in

session ;

AND WHEREAS the Governor of Maharashtra was satisfied that

circumstances existed which rendered it necessary for him to take immediate

action to provide for temporary postponement of elections of the President,

Vice-President and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of certain Zilla

Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of certain Panchayat

Samitis, for the reasons aforesaid; and, therefore, promulgated the

Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Pachayat Samitis Temporary

Postponement of Elections (of the President, Vice-President and Chairmen

of the Subjects Committess of certain Zilla Parishad and the Chairmen and

Deputy Chairmen of certain Panchayat Samitis due to ensuing general

elections to the State Legislative Assembly) Ordinance, 2024 on the 14th

October 2024 ;

AND WHEREAS it is expedient to replace the said Ordinance by an Act

of the State Legislature ; it is hereby enacted in the Seventy-fifth Year of the

Republic of India as follows :—

1.

(1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and

Panchayat Samitis Temporary Postponement of Elections (of the President,

Vice-President and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of certain Zilla

Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of certain Panchayat

Samitis due to ensuing general elections to the State Legislative Assembly)

Act, 2024.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 14th October 2024.

2.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

(a) “Panchayat Samiti” means a Panchayat Samiti constituted

under the Zilla Parishads Act;

(b) “Zilla Parishad” means a Zilla Parishad constituted under the

Zilla Parishads Act;

(c) “ Zilla Parishads Act” means the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads

and Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961;

Short title

and

commence-

ment.

Mah. V

of 1962.

Definitions.

Mah.

Ord. XI

of 2024.

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(d) words and expressions used in this Act and not defined herein

shall, in relation to any Zilla Parishad or Panchayat Samitis, have the

same meaning assigned to them in the Zilla Parishads Act.

3.

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Zilla Parishads Act

or the rules made thereunder or in any judgment, decree or order of any

Court,—

(a) no election to the offices of the President, Vice-President and

the Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of the Zilla Parishads and

the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the Panchayat Samitis, after

expiry of two and half years, during the current term of such Zilla

Pariashad or Panchayat Samiti, as the case may be, shall be held for a

period of ninety days from the date of coming into force of this Act, or

till such earlier date as the State Government may, by notification in

the Official Gazette, specify (hereinafter in this Act referred to as “ the

said period ”) ;

(b) the term of offices of the President, Vice-President and

Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the Panchayat Samiti elected after

the said period shall be co-terminous with the term of the elected

Councillors or members, as the case may be;

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub­section (1), after the term

of offices of the President, Vice-President and Chairmen of the Subjects

Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen

of the Panchayat Samitis as extended by this Act expires, they shall continue

to hold office until the new President, Vice-President and Chairmen of the

Subjects Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy

Chairmen of the Panchayat Samitis have been elected under the Zilla

Parishads Act.

4.

All the Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Chairmen of the Subjects

Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen

of the Panchayat Samitis, whose term of offices are deemed to have been

extended or are extended, as the case may be, under section 3 shall,

throughout the extended period, be deemed to have been and be competent

to exercise all the powers, perform all the duties and discharge all the

functions as such President, Vice-President and Chairmen of the Subjects

Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen

of the Panchayat Samitis; and no act done by any of them during said period

shall be invalid, or shall be called in question in any Court, merely on the

ground that during such extended period, the President, Vice-President and

Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the Panchayat Samitis, could not exercise

all or any of the powers or perform all or any of the duties or discharge all or

any of the functions of the President, Vice-President and Chairmen of the

Subjects Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy

Chairmen of the Panchayat Samitis.

Postponement

of elections of

Presidents,

Vice-

Presidents

and

Chairmen of

Subjects

Committees

and

Chairmen

and Deputy

Chairmen of

Panchayat

Samitis and

extension of

term of their

office.

Powers of

Presidents,

Vice-

Presidents and

Chairmen of

Subjects

Committees

and

Chairmen

and Deputy

Chairmen of

Panchayat

Samitis

whose term of

office stands

extended and

validation of

certain acts.

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5.

Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, arrangements shall

be made by the Collectors and other officers concerned to hold the elections

of the Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees

of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the

Panchayat Samitis, in accordance with the provisions of the Zilla Parishads

Act and the rules made thereunder, before, or as soon as possible, after the

expiration of the extended term of office of the Presidents, Vice-Presidents

and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the Panchayat Samitis.

6.

(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this

Act or by reason of anything contained therein, or in giving effect to the Zilla

Parishads Act in respect of any matter contained in this Act, the State

Government may as occasion arises, by an order, published in the Official

Gazette, do anything which appears to it to be necessary for the purpose of

removing the difficulty :

Provided that, no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period

of six months from the date of commencement of this Act.

(2) Every order made under sub-section (1) shall be laid, as soon as may

be, after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature.

7.

For the removal of doubt, it is hereby declared that, nothing

contained in this Act shall apply in respect of the election of the offices of

the Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees

of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the

Panchayat Samitis, to be held immediately after the general election to the

Zilla Parishads and the Panchayat Samitis, as the case may be.

8.

(1) The Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchyat Samitis

temporary Postponement of Elections (of the President, Vice-President and

Chairmen of the Subjects Committess of certain Zilla Parishads and the

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of certain Panchayat Samitis due to ensuing

general elections to the State Legislative Assembly) Ordinance, 2024 is

hereby repealed.

(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken

under the said Ordinance, shall be deemed to have been done or taken under

the provisions of this Act.

Repeal of

Mah. Ord. XI

of 2024

and

saving.

Mah.

Ord. XI

of 2024.

Power to

remove

difficulty.

Removal of

doubt.

Arrangements

to hold

elections of

Presidents,

Vice-

Presidents

and

Chairmen of

the Subjects

Committees

of Zilla

Parishads

and

Chairmen

and Deputy

Chairmen of

Panchayat

Samitis.

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STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

As per the existing provisions of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and

Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961 (Mah. V of 1962), in the State, the tenure of the

offices of the President, Vice-President and Chairmen of the Subjects

Committees of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen

of the Panchayat Samitis is two and a half years. In some of the Zilla

Parishads and Panchayat Samitis, the term of offices of the Presidents, Vice-

Presidents, and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of the Zilla Parishads,

the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the Panchayat Samitis, were due to

expire in the months of October-November 2024.

2.

The general elections to the State Legislative Assembly were likely

to be held in the month of November 2024. On account of the said general

elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, all Collectors and staff

of the Collectorate of the Districts as well as the police personnel in the

Districts were busy with preparation for the said general elections and would

have been occupied with the pre and post election duties. To rule out any

possible overlapping of the said elections and any possible undue pressure

on civil and police administration and any law and order problem or any

inconvenience to the citizens as well as to the candidates and the electors

concerned, it was considered expedient to temporarily postpone the elections

of the Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees

of the Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the

Panchayat Samitis, for a period of ninety days.

3.

As both Houses of the State Legislature were not in session and the

Governor of Maharashtra was satisfied that circumstances existed which

rendered it necessary for him to take immediate action to provide for

temporary postponement of elections to the offices of the President, Vice-

President and Chairmen of the Subjects Committees of certain Zilla

Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of the certain Panchayat

Samitis, on account of ensuing general elections to the Maharashtra

Legislative Assembly and for certain other incidental matters, the

Maharashta Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Temporary Postponement

of Elections (of the President, Vice-President and Chairmen of the Subjects

Committes of certain Zilla Parishads and the Chairmen and Deputy

Chairmen of certain Panchayat Samitis due to ensuing general elections to

the State Legislative Assembly) Ordiance, 2024 (Mah. Ord. XI of 2024), was

promulgated by the Governor of Maharashtra on the 14th October 2024.

4.

The Bill is intended to replace the said Ordinance by an Act of the

State Legislature.

Nagpur,

DEVENDRA FADNAVIS,

Dated the 15^th December, 2024.

Chief Minister.

¦ÉÉMÉ {ÉÉSÉ-+-25-2.

BSɤÉÒ-2103-2.

6

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MEMORANDUM REGARDING DELEGATED LEGISLATION

The Bill involves the following proposals for delegation of Legislative

powers, namely :—

Clause 3(1).—The Act is intended to remain in force for a period of

ninety days from the date of commemcement of this Act. However, under

this clause, power is taken to the State Government to shorten the period of

operation of this Act, if considered necessary, by issuing a notification in the

Official Gazette.

Clause 6.—Under this clause, power is taken to the State Government

to take an action by an order published in the Official Gazette, for removing

the difficulty in giving effect to the provisions of this Act.

2.

All the above proposals for delegation of legislative power are of a

normal character.

Vidhan Bhavan :

JITENDRA BHOLE,

Nagpur,

Secretary (1) (I/C),

Dated the 16^th December, 2024.

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

ON BEHALF OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING, STATIONERY AND PUBLICATION, PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY DIRECTOR, RUPENDRA DINESH MORE, PRINTED

AT GOVERNMENT PRESS AND BOOK DEPOT, CIVIL LINES, NAGPUR-440 001 AND PUBLISHED AT DIRECTORATE OF GOVERNMENT PRINTING, STATIONERY

AND PUBLICATION, 21-A, NETAJI SUBHASH ROAD, CHARNI ROAD, MUMBAI-400 004. EDITOR : DIRECTOR, RUPENDRA DINESH MORE.