Section 213A in The West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973
213A. [ Disqualification on change of political party by Members of Panchayats. [Substituted by Act No. 5 of 2014, dated 31.3.2014.]
(1)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, the prescribed authority for such Panchayat as may be specified by notification in this behalf, may, subject to the other provisions of this section, declare, for reasons to he recorded in writing, a member of such Panchayat to be disqualified for being a member thereof, if-(a)he is an elected member set up by a recognized political party and has-(i)voluntarily given up his membership of such recognized political party, or(ii)[ exercised the voting right or abstained from voting contrary to any direction issued by the Leader of his political party to which he belongs, without obtaining the prior permission of the said Leader or such voting or abstention has not been condoned by the said Leader within seven days from the date of such voting or abstention; or](b)he is an elected member not set up by any recognized political party and he has joined a recognized political party on the expiry of six months from the date of election:Provided that the prescribed authority shall not declare any member to be disqualified under this section without giving to such member a reasonable opportunity to represent his case and to be heard in person:Provided further that an elected member referred to in sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) shall riot, on the prescribed authority being satisfied in this behalf, be declared to be disqualified, if-(a)the action of such member was taken on obtaining prior permission of, or was condoned by, such recognized political party, or(b)such member claims that he and any other members of such recognized political party in the Panchayat constitute a group representing a faction consisting of not less than one-third of the total number of members set up by such recognized political party in the Panchayat and that all the members of such group have voluntarily given up their membership of such recognized political party, or(c)the former recognized political party of the member merges with another recognized political party, and he claims that he and other members of his former recognized political party-(i)have become members of such other recognized political party or of a new recognized political party formed out of merger, as the case may be, or(ii)have not accepted the merger, and from the time of such merger, he and such other members constituting not less than one-third of the total number of members set up by the former recognized political party in the Panchayat, have opted to remain members of the former recognized political party or have formed a new recognized political party.[Explanation. [Inserted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.] - Direction shall be issued by the Leader in writing to each member belonging to his political party at least twenty four hours before the commencement of the meeting and a copy of such direction shall be communicated to the prescribed authority before commencement of the meeting.](1A)[ Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-clause (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (1), an elected member who has exercised his voting right contrary to the direction issued by the Leader, shall not be declared to be disqualified if such member claims and establishes that-(a)he and a few other members of the same Panchayat belonging to same political party have constituted a group consisting of not less than one-third of the total number of members set up by such recognised political party in that Panchayat and have already intimated such decision to the Leader mentioning that the members of such group shall no longer be abided by any direction of such Leader and that such decision have also been communicated to the prescribed authority at least three working days prior to the meeting, or(b)his original political party has merged with another political party and he and a few other members of his original political party constituting at least one-third of the total number of members in the same Panchayat belonging to such original political party,-(i)have become members of such other political party, or as the case may be, of a new political party formed by such merger and have decided to elect a new Leader for such separate party or group, or(ii)have not accepted the merger and opted to function as a separate group and wants to be treated as such other political party or a new political party or group as the case may be for the purpose of all provisions of this section, and the members involved have already communicated their collective decision in writing to the Leader and to the prescribed authority under the signatures of all such members at least three days before the commencement of the meeting.](2)On being declared to be disqualified under sub-section (1), a member shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (12), stand removed from the Panchayat from the date of such declaration.(3)[As soon as may be within three months from the date of the first meeting of a Panchayat or within three months from the date on which this section comes into force, as the case may be] [Substituted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.], elected members set up by the recognized political parties shall, by adopting a resolution, select one member from amongst themselves to be the Leader [and such Leader shall within thirty days] [Substituted 'and such Leader shall, within fifteen days' by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.] from the date of such selection, furnish to the prescribed authority referred to in sub-section (1 )-(i)a copy of the resolution,(ii)a signed statement containing the names, addresses and constituencies of himself and other members set up by such recognized political party, and(iii)a copy of a set of rules and regulations, if any, by whatever name called, of such recognized political party:Provided that an office-bearer may also hold the office of the leader:[Provided further that if selection of Leader of any recognized political party does not take place within the aforesaid period due to exceptional reason, the members belonging to a recognised political party may jointly file a petition with endorsement of the President or the General Secretary or the Secretary of the district unit of such recognized political party may file a petition showing the ground of such exceptional reason to the prescribed authority seeking further time for selection of such Leader and the prescribed authority on being satisfied about the exceptional reason may allow further time for one month to select such Leader who shall within fifteen days from the date of such selection furnish the aforesaid documents to the prescribed authority.] [Substituted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.](4)Where there is only one elected member set up by a recognized political party in a Panchayat, he shall furnish the documents referred to in sub-section (3) in relation to himself:Provided that in the event of any increase in the number of members of such recognized political party, the provisions of sub-section (3) shall apply as if the first meeting of the Panchayat was held or this section came into force, as the case may be, on the date on which such increase took place.(5)A member not belonging to any recognized political party shall furnish a statement to that effect to the prescribed authority referred to in sub-section (1) within one month from the date of the first meeting of the Panchayat.(6)In the event of any change of the information furnished under subsection (3), sub-section (4) or sub-section (5), the Leader or the member, as the case may be, shall, as soon as may be within fifteen days from the date of such change, furnish in writing such change of information to the prescribed authority referred to in sub-section (1).(7)The Leader of any recognized political party referred to in subsection (3) may at any time file a petition [the President or the General Secretary or the Secretary of the district unit of such recognized political party] [Substituted 'endorsed by the General Secretary, or, if there is no General Secretary' by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.], the Secretary, of the district unit of such recognized political party to the prescribed authority referred to in sub-section (1), stating that-(a)one or more members of such recognized political party have-(i)voluntarily given up his or their membership of such recognized political party, or(ii)[ exercised the voting right or abstained from voting contrary to any direction issued by the Leader of his political party to which he belongs, without obtaining prior permission of the said Leader or such voting or abstention has not been condoned by the said Leader;] [Substituted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.](b)the member referred to in sub-section (4) has voluntarily given up his membership of the recognized political party that set him up, or(c)the member referred to in sub-section (5) has joined a recognized political party on the expiry of six months from the date of election, and that such member or members should be declared to be disqualified under sub-section (1) and should be removed from the Panchayat.(8)Every petition referred to in sub-section (7)-(a)shall contain a concise statement of the material facts on which the petitioner relies, and(b)shall be accompanied by copies of the documentary evidence, if any, on which the petitioner relies and, where the petitioner relies on any information furnished to him by any person or persons, a statement containing the names and addresses of such person or persons and the gist of such information as furnished by such person or each of such persons.(9)On receipt of the petition referred to in sub-section (7), the prescribed authority referred to in sub-section (1) shall, as soon as possible within [two weeks] [Substituted 'six weeks' by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.] from the date of the receipt of such petition, proceed to make an enquiry to satisfy himself, among others, as to-(a)the common decision in regard to the manner of voting to be exercised by the majority members set up by the recognized political party, and(b)whether the member or members against whom such petition is filed, exercised the voting right, in a meeting of the Panchayat contrary to such manner of voting.(10)For the purpose of enquiry under sub-section (9), the prescribed authority may summon such members of the recognized political party or other persons, and require such signed statements from, and production of such documents and records by, the members or other persons as aforesaid, as he may deem necessary.(11)As soon as possible within [four weeks] [Substituted 'eight weeks' by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.] from the date of receipt of the petition referred to in sub-section (7), the prescribed authority shall, in consideration of the facts and the documents and the records before it,-(a)reject the petition,or(b)admit the petition wholly or in part and declare any member or members to be disqualified under sub-section (1) for being members of the Panchayat.(12)Any member of a Panchayat, declared disqualified under subsection (1) or the Leader of the recognized political party referred to in subsection (7), if aggrieved by the decision of the prescribed authority, may, within thirty days from the date of the order, appeal to such authority as the State Government may appoint in this behalf, and, thereupon, the authority so appointed may stay the operation of the order till the disposal of the appeal and may, after giving notice of the appeal to the prescribed authority, and after giving the appellant and the opposite parties an opportunity of being heard, set aside or confirm the order or declare any member or members to be disqualified in the manner referred to in sub-section (1) and, upon such declaration, the member or members shall stand removed from the Panchayat.(13)The order passed by the authority appointed under sub-section (12) on the appeal shall be final.(14)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, no Court shall have any jurisdiction in respect of any matter arising out of a member being declared to be disqualified under sub-section (1) for being a member of the Panchayat.(15)The State Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this section.Explanation. - For the purposes of this section, an elected member shall be deemed to be set up by a recognized political party if he has contested election with the symbol reserved for such recognized political party or if he has contested election with a free symbol and joins a recognized political party and furnishes a declaration to that effect to the prescribed authority referred to in the sub-section (I) before the expiry of six months from the date of election.] [Inserted by W.B. Act No. 8 of 2010, dated 13.5.2010.]
