Section 52 in The Government of Union Territories Act, 1963
52. Special provision for Hill Areas of Manipur.
(1)There shall be a Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Manipur consisting of all the members of the Legislative Assembly who for the time being represent the constituencies situated in the Hill Areas of that territory:Provided that the Chief Minister and the Speaker shall not be members of the Standing Committee.(2)The President may by notification determine the area which shall be regarded as the Hill Areas of Manipur and specify the constituencies situated in the Hill Areas.(3)Every Minister shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise take part in the proceedings of, the Standing Committee, but shall not, by virtue of such right, be entitled to vote at any meeting of the Committee if he is not a member thereof.(4)The following matters in so far as they relate to the Hill Areas of Manipur shall be within the purview of the Standing Committee to the extent and in the manner, provided by this section, namely:-(a)the allotment, occupation, or use, or the setting apart of land (other than any land which is a reserved forest for the purposes of agriculture or grazing or for residential or other non-agricultural purposes or for any other purpose likely to promote the interests of the inhabitants of any village or town situated within the Hill Areas:Provided that nothing in this clause shall be deemed to require the reference to the Standing Committee of any proposal for compulsory acquisition of any land for a public purpose;(b)the management of any forest not being a reserved forest;(c)the use of any canal or water course for purposes of agriculture;(d)the regulation of the practice of jhum or other forms of shifting cultivation;(e)the establishment of village or town committees or councils and their powers; and any other matter relating to village or town administration, including village or town police and public health and sanitation;(f)the appointment or succession of chiefs or headmen;(g)the inheritance of property;(h)marriage; and(i)social customs.(5)Every Bill which is not a financial Bill and contains mainly provisions dealing with matters specified in sub-section (4) shall upon introduction in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Manipur, be referred to the Standing Committee for consideration and report to the Legislative Assembly.(6)If any question arises whether a Bill attracts the provisions of sub-section (5) or not, the question shall be referred to the Administrator and his decision thereon shall be final.(7)Any bill referred to the Standing Committee under sub-section (5) may, if so recommended by the Standing Committee, be passed by the Legislative Assembly with such variations as may be necessary in its application to areas other than the Hill Areas.(8)When a Bill as reported by the Standing Committee is not passed by the Legislative Assembly in the form in which it has been reported but is passed in a form which, in the opinion of the Speaker, is substantially different from that as reported by the Standing Committee, or is rejected by the Legislative Assembly, the Speaker shall submit to the Administrator -(a)in any case where the Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly in a substantially different form, the Bill as passed by the Assembly together with the Bill as reported by the Standing Committee;(b)in any case where the Bill is rejected by the Assembly, the Bill as reported by the Standing Committee.(9)The Administrator shall, as soon as possible after the submission to him of the Bill, return the Bill to the Legislative Assembly with a message recommending either that the Bill be withdrawn or that it be passed in the form in which it has been reported by the Standing Committee or in the form in which it has been passed by the Legislative Assembly and the message received from the Administrator shall be reported by the Speaker to the Assembly and accordingly, the Bill shall be deemed to have been withdrawn, or as the case may be, deemed to have been passed by the Assembly in the form recommended by the Administrator.(10)The Standing Committee shall have power to consider and pass resolutions recommending to the Administrator any legislative or executive action with respect to matters specified in sub-section (4), so however that the executive action relates to general questions of policy and the legislative or executive action does not involve any financial commitments other than expenditure of a routine and incidental character.(11)The Council of Ministers shall normally give effect to the recommendations of the Standing Committee under sub-section (10) but if the Council is of the opinion that it would not be expedient to do so or that the Standing Committee was not competent to make any such recommendations, the matter shall be referred to the Administrator whose decision thereon shall be final and binding on the Council and action shall be taken accordingly.(12)The Administrator shall have special responsibility for securing the proper functioning of the Standing Committee in accordance with this section.
