(1)A Councillor may, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), ask the Empowered Standing Committee questions on any matter relating to the administration of the Municipality or municipal governance, and all such questions shall be addressed to the Empowered Standing Committee and shall be answered either by the Chief Councillor or by any other member of the Empowered Standing Committee.(2)The right to ask a question shall be1 governed by the following conditions, namely:-(a)not less than seven working days' notice, in writing, specifying the question shall be given to the Municipal Secretary;(b)no question shall-(i)bring in any name or statement not strictly necessary to make the question intelligible,(ii)contain arguments, ironical expressions, imputations, epithets or defamatory statements,(iii)ask for an expression of opinion or the solution of a hypothetical proposition,(iv)ask as to the character or conduct of any person except in his official or public capacity,(v)relate to matter which is not primarily the concern of the Municipality,(vi)make or imply a charge of a personal character,(vii)raise questions of policy too large to be dealt with within the limits of an answer to a question,(viii)repeat in substance questions already answered or to which an answer has been refused,(ix)ask for information on trivial matters,(x)ask for information on matters of past history,(xi)ask for information set forth in accessible documents or in ordinary works of reference,(xii)raise matters under the control of bodies or, persons not primarily responsible to the Municipality, or(xiii)ask for any information on any matter which is under adjudication by a court of law.(3)The Presiding Officer shall disallow any question, which is, in his opinion, in contravention of the provisions of sub-section (2).(4)If any doubt arises whether any question is or is not in contravention of the provisions of sub-section (2), the matter shall be decided by the Presiding Officer, whose decision shall be final.(5)The Chief Councillor or any member of the Empowered Standing Committee shall not be bound to answer a question seeking information which has been communicated to him or to the Empowered Standing Committee in confidence or if, in his opinion, it cannot be answered without prejudice to the public interest.(6)Unless otherwise directed by the Presiding Officer of the meeting, every question shall be answered at a meeting of the Municipality.
