Section 1A in The Maharashtra Village Panchayats Act, 1959
1A. [ Direct election of Sarpanch. [Inserted by Maharashtra Act No. 54 of 2018, dated 13.8.2018.]
(1)After the date of commencement of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats (Amendment) Act, 2017 in respect of the panchayat to which the general election is to be held, subject to provisions of sub-sections (4), (5) and (6) of section 30, every panchayat shall have a Sarpanch who shall be elected by the persons whose names are included in the list of voters for village under section 12.(2)Election of the Sarpanch shall be held simultaneously with the general elections of the panchayat and the procedure regarding holding of elections to the panchayat shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to such election.(3)If at an election, no Sarpanch is elected, a fresh election shall be held to elect a Sarpanch, and if there is a failure to elect a Sarpanch at the fresh election, such vacancy may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, be filled by election by the elected members from amongst themselves and the term of Sarpanch elected under this sub-section shall be co-terminus with the term of members of the panchayat.(4)Any person elected under sub-section (3) shall be deemed to be duly elected at an election under this section.(5)If, in the election of the Sarpanch, there is an equality of votes, the result of the election shall be decided by lots to be drawn by the State Election Commissioner or the officer appointed by him for the purpose.(6)In case of a dispute regarding election of the Sarpanch, the provisions of section 15 shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.][30(1A). Person contesting election for reserved office of Sarpanch to submit Caste Certificate and Validity Certificate. [Section 30-1A was inserted by Maharashtra 5 of 2009, Section 3.]- Every person desirous of contesting election to the office of the Sarpanch 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 the 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.][Provided that, for the elections for the post of Sarpanch for which the last date of filing of nomination falls on or before the 30th June 2019, in accordance with the election programme declared by the State Election Commission, a person who has applied to the Scrutiny Committee for 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 preferred by him to the Scrutiny Committee for issuance of the Validity Certificate or any other proof of having made such application to Scrutiny Committee; and(ii)an undertaking that he shall submit, within a period of [twelve months] from the date on which he is declared elected, the Validity Certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee:Provided further that, if such person fails to produce the Validity Certificate within a period of [twelve months] [Substituted 'six months' by Maharashtra Act No. 66 of 2018, dated 14.12.2018.] 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 a Sarpanch.] [Substituted by Maharashtra Act No. 24 of 2018, dated 28.3.2018.][Provided also that, in respect of the undertaking filed by any person under clause (ii) of the first proviso, before the3 date of commencement of the Maharashtra Village Panchayats and the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis (Amendment) Act, 2018 (Mah. LXVI of 2018), the period of "six months" specified in such undertaking shall be deemed to have been substituted as "twelve months"] [Added by Maharashtra Act No. 66 of 2018, dated 14.12.2018.]
