5. Term of office of non-official members, resignation and removal of such members and casual vacancies in their office.
(1)A member nominated under clause (d) or clause (e) of sub-section (1) of section 4 shall hold office for a period of [two years] [Substituted by Act 20 of 2001.] from the date of his nomination and shall be eligible for renomination.(2)A member referred to in subsection (1) may resign his office by giving notice in writing thereof to the Government and shall cease to be a member on his resignation being accepted by the Government.(3)The government may, by order, remove from office a member referred to in subsection (1) if -(a)he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court; or(b)he has applied for being adjudged as insolvent, or is an undischarged insolvent; or(c)he has been convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude; or(d)they are satisfied that he has been guilty of corruption or misconduct in the administration of the Devaswom; or(e)he has absented himself from more than three consecutive meetings of the Committee and is unable to explain such absence to the satisfaction of the Committee; or(f)he, being a legal practitioner, has acted or appeared on behalf of any person against the Devaswom in any legal proceeding after he has been nominated as a member of Committee; or(g)he ceases to profess the Hindu Religion or to believe in temple worship; or(h)he has committed or abetted the commission of any act in support or furtherance of the practice of untouchability.(4)A member shall not be removed under subsection (3) unless he has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against his removal.(5)A member who is removed under subsection (3) may, within one month from the date of the receipt by him of the order of removal, institute a suit in the court to set aside the order.(6)The term of office of a member nominated to fill a casual vacancy shall be for so long only as the member whose place has been filled would have been entitled to hold office if the vacancy had not occurred.
