Section 51 in The Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats And Industrial Townships Act, 1965
51. [ Election of President. [Section 51 was substituted by Maharashtra 31 of 2006 dated 1st August, 2006.]
(1)Subject to the provisions of section 51-IA every Council shall have a President who shall be elected by the elected Councillors from amongst themselves.(2)The Collector shall, within twenty-five days from the date on which the names of the Councillors elected to a Council are published or, as the case may be, first published under sub-section (1) of section 19, in the Official Gazette, convene a special meeting of the Councillors for election of a President:Provided that, a meeting under this section shall not be held before the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing Councillors.(3)The meeting called under sub-section (2) shall be presided over by the Collector or such officer as the Collector may by order in writing appoint in this behalf. The Collector or such officer shall, when presiding over such meeting, have the same powers as the President of a Council when presiding over a meeting of the Council has, but shall not have the right to vote:Provided that, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act for regulating the procedure at meetings (including the quorum required thereat), the Collector or the officer presiding over such meeting may, for reasons which in his opinion are sufficient, refuse to adjourn such meeting.(4)Any Councillor aggrieved by any decision of the Collector or such officer, accepting or rejecting any nomination paper, may, within forty-eight hours from intimation of such decision, present an appeal to the Regional Director of Municipal Administration concerned and simultaneously give notice of such appeal to the Collector or such officer. Such appeal shall be disposed of by the Regional Director, as expeditiously as possible, after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to the parties concerned. The decision of the Regional Director on such appeal, and subject only to such decision (if any), the decision of the Collector or such officer, as the case may be, accepting or rejecting the nomination of a candidate shall be final and conclusive and shall not be called in question in any Court.(5)If, in the election of the President there is an equality of votes, the result of the election shall be decided by lots to be drawn in the presence of the Collector or the officer presiding in such manner as he may determine.(6)Any dispute regarding election of the President shall be referred to the State Government whose decision in that behalf shall be final.(7)After election of the President, the Council shall continue its meeting for the purpose of [electing vide-President].(8)[* * *] [Sub-section (8) deleted by Maharashtra 36 of 2006, dated 13th December, 2006.](9)If, there is a vacancy in the office of the President due to any reason whatsoever, then for subsequent election of a President, the same procedure as laid down in sub-sections (2) to (6) (both inclusive) shall apply except that the special meeting shall be called by the Collector within twenty-five days from the date on which the vacancy occurs.](10)[ The subsequent election to the post of the President after expiry of the first term of the two and a half years of the President elected under the provisions of subsection (2), shall be held within a period of eight days prior to the expiry of the said term of the earlier President:Provided that, the newly elected President shall take charge on the last day of the term of the outgoing President or next day thereafter.] [Sub-section (10) was added by Maharashtra 15 of 2012, Section 4 (w.e.f. 4-8-2012).][51A-1A. Direct Election of President. [Inserted by Maharashtra Act No. 9 of 2017, dated 12.1.2017.](1)After the date of commencement of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations and the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships (Amendment) Act, 2016, in respect of the General elections to the Council, subject to the provisions of section 51-1A, every Council shall have a President who shall be elected by the persons whose names are included in the municipal voters list prepared under section 11.(2)Every person qualified to be elected as a Councillor under section 15 shall be qualified to be elected as a President at an election.(3)Election of the President shall be held simultaneously with the general elections of the Council and the procedure regarding holding of elections to the Council shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to such election.(4)If at an election, no President is elected, a fresh election shall be held to elect a President, and if there is a failure to elect a President at the fresh election, such vacancy may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, be filled by election by the elected Councillors from amongst themselves.(5)Any person elected under sub-section (4) or (7) shall be deemed to be duly elected at an election under this section.(6)If, in the election of the President, 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.(7)If, during the term of the elected Councillors, there is a vacancy in the office of the President due to any reason, the same procedure as provided in sub-sections (1) to (6) shall apply and such President shall remain in office only for the remainder of the term, for which his predecessor would have remained in office but for such casual vacancy :Provided that, if a vacancy occurs, which is within six months prior to the date on which the term of office of the elected Councillors expires, the same shall be filled in by election from amongst the elected Councillors.(8)In case of a dispute regarding election of the President, the provisions of section 21 shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.(9)The Collector shall convene first general meeting of the Council within twenty-five days from the date on which the name of the President and the elected Councillors is published in the Official Gazette after the general election of the Council and the President. The nomination of the Councillors under clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 9 shall be made in the prescribed manner in this meeting.][51-1A. Reservation of Office of President. [Section 51-1A was inserted by Maharashtra 41 of 1994, Section 138.](1)The Offices of the President shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Women and the Backward Class of Citizens in the prescribed manner.](2)[ Notwithstanding anything contained in the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchyats (President Election) Rules, 1981, the roster relating to the reservation of the offices of the President in force on the 30th April, 1999, shall be deemed to have been amended to provide for the extended tenure of the President as specified in section 52.] [This sub-section was added by Maharashtra 2 of 2002, Section 2.](3)[ Notwithstanding anything contained in the Maharashtra Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats (President Election) Rules, 1981, the roster relating to the reservation of offices of the President in force on the date of commencement of the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships (Second Amendment) Act, 2006 (Maharashtra XLVIII of 2006), shall be deemed to have been amended to give effect to the provisions of the term of office of the President, specified in section 52.] [Sub-section (3) added by Maharashtra 48 of 2006, dated 29th December, 2006 (w.r.e.f 5-10-2006).][51-1B. Person contesting election for reserved Office of President to submit Caste Certificate and Validity Certificate. [Section 51-1B inserted by Maharashtra 7 of 2009, dated 14th January, 2009.]- Every person desirous of contesting election to the office of the President 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 (XXIII of 2001).][[Provided that, for the elections for the office of the President for which the last date of filing of nomination falls during the period commencing on the date of commencement of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations and the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships (Amendment) Act, 2018 (Mah. XXI of 2018) and ending on the 30th June 2019, a person who has applied to the Scrutiny Committee for the verification of his Caste Certificate before the date of filing 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 of his election, the validity certificate issued by the Scrutiny Committee:]]Provided further that, if the person fails to produce the Validity Certificate within a period of [twelve months] [Substituted 'six months' by Maharashtra Act No. 65 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 Councillor.] [This proviso was added by Maharashtra 31 of 2012, Section 3 (w.e.f. 8-10-2012).][Provided also that, in respect of the undertaking filed by any person under clause (ii) of the first proviso, before the date of commencement of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the Maharashtra Municipal Corporations and the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships (Third Amendment) Act, 2018, (Mah. LXV 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. 65 of 2018, dated 14.12.2018.]
