Chapter 13 Chapter 13

प्रकीणा

Protection of acts done in good faith.— No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any Panch, member, Sarpanch, Up-Sarpanch, President, Vice-President or any officer or servant of the Panchayat for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or bye-law made thereunder.

Suit in absence of notice. - No suit shall be instituted against a Panchayat or Gram Sabha or against any office bearer, officer or servant thereof in respect of any act purporting to be done in their official capacity, until the expiration of one month next after notice in writing has been, in the case of a Panchayat or Gram Sabha, delivered or left at its office and in the case of an office bearer, officer or servant, delivered to him or left at his office or place of abode, explicitly stating the cause of action, the nature of the reliefs sought, the amount of compensation claimed and the name and place of abode of the intending plaintiff and the plaint shall contain a statement that such notice has been so delivered or left.

Defense of suits against members, officers etc. to be at expense of Panchayat or Gram Sabha. - If a suit is brought against any member, officer or servant of the Panchayat or Gram Sabha in respect of any act purporting to be done by him in his official capacity, the expense of defending such suit shall be charged to the Panchayat or Gram Sabha fund; Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to any suit against such member, officer or servant in respect of any act involving criminal liability or where the suit is brought by the Panchayat or Gram Sabha itself.

Suit in relation to taxes etc. — No suit shall be entertained by any civil court in respect of any assessment, levy or recovery of any tax, cess, fee or any other money under this Act, or in respect of any order or decision made under this Act.

Member or servant of Panchayat to be public servant — Every member of a Panchayat and every officer and servant thereof shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (No. 45 of 1860).

Acts of Panchayat not invalid due to vacancy or defect in constitution etc. — No act of a Panchayat, or of any person acting as a member or Chairman or President thereof, shall be deemed to be invalid by reason only of some defect in the constitution of the Panchayat or by reason of the existence of any vacancy in the office of Chairman, President or member of any Panchayat or on the ground that the Chairman, President or any member of the Panchayat was not entitled to hold or continue in such office by reason of any disqualification or by reason of any irregularity or illegality in his election or otherwise.

Acquisition of land — Where any land is required for the purposes of this Act, the State Government may acquire such land under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (No. 1 of 1894) and upon payment of compensation by the Panchayat, the land shall vest in the Panchayat.

Central Government or State Government will not obtain license or permission.- Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Central Government or State Government shall not be required to obtain any license or permission from the Gram Panchayat or Janpad Panchayat or Zila Panchayat for the execution of any work or for any other purpose.

Power of Panchayat to borrow money.-

1. (1) A Panchayat may, with the previous sanction of the State Government and subject to such conditions as may be imposed by it, borrow money from any financial institution for the purpose of carrying out any of the purposes of this Act.
2. (2) The Panchayat may pledge or mortgage any of its property as security for the payment of money so borrowed.

Writing off of irrecoverable dues and useless materials. --

1. (1) Subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, a Panchayat may write off such irrecoverable dues and useless materials as are certified to be irrecoverable or useless in such manner as may be prescribed: Provided that no such dues shall be written off without the prior approval of the prescribed authority.
2. (2) The procedure for writing off such dues or materials shall be such as may be prescribed.

Prohibition of remuneration to members etc. -- No member, Sarpanch, Up-Sarpanch, President or Vice-President of a Panchayat shall be entitled to any remuneration or salary for the performance of the duties prescribed or assigned to them under this Act:

Inspection of record etc. of Panchayat or Gram Sabha Inspection of record etc. of Panchayat or Gram Sabha. – A Panchayat or Gram Sabha shall make available its records for inspection by any member of the public on payment of such fee as may be prescribed.

Method of serving documents etc. –

1. (1) Every notice, order or other document directed to be served on any person under this Act or under any rule or bye-law made thereunder, shall be served in such manner as may be prescribed.
2. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act or of the rules or bye-laws made thereunder, any notice, order or other document required or authorised by this Act or by any rule or bye-law made thereunder to be served on or given to any person, shall be deemed to be duly served –
   • (a) if it is served on the person to be served;
   • (b) if it is served forwarded by registered post; or
   • (c) if it is served addressed to such person and left at his usual or last known place of abode or business.

Entry etc. for the purposes of the Act.—(1) The Sarpanch, Up-Sarpanch, President, Vice-President or the Chief Executive Officer or Secretary of the Panchayat or any other officer or person authorized by the State Government in this behalf may enter into/or upon any land or building for inspection, survey or execution of any work or for any other purpose connected with the provisions of this Act or any rule or bye-law made thereunder: Provided that—

1. (a) no such entry shall be made without giving at least twenty-four hours’ notice to the occupier or if there be no occupier, to the owner of such land or building;
2. (b) such entry shall be made with as little inconvenience to the occupier as possible;
3. (c) in case of any building used as a dwelling house, due regard shall be paid to the social and religious usages of the occupants.

1. (2) No person shall enter into or upon any land or building or carry out any work therein in contravention of any judgement, decree or order of any court.

Prohibition of interference by courts in election matters.—Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any rules made thereunder, no civil court shall have jurisdiction to question the legality of any action taken or any decision given by the State Election Commission or any officer authorized by it in connection with the conduct of elections under this Act.

Election Petition –

1. (1) No election under this Act shall be called in question except by an election petition presented in such manner as may be prescribed to the prescribed authority.
2. (2) An election petition against the return of a candidate at an election or against an election itself shall be presented –
   • (a) in the case of Gram Panchayat, to the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue);
   • (b) in the case of Janpad Panchayat, to the Collector;
   • (c) in the case of Zila Panchayat, to the Divisional Commissioner; within thirty days from the date of declaration of the result.
3. (3) The election petition shall be heard and disposed of in such manner as may be prescribed.
4. (4) The authority hearing the election petition may in its discretion award costs to be paid by any party to the petition and such costs shall be recoverable as arrears of land revenue.
5. (5) Any person aggrieved by an order of the prescribed authority under sub-section
6. (3) may within thirty days from the date of the order, appeal to the District Judge in the case of Gram Panchayat and Janpad Panchayat and to the High Court in the case of Zila Panchayat.
7. (6) Subject to the provisions of this section, the procedure provided in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (No. 5 of 1908) shall apply to the trial of an election petition.

Power to eject persons who refuse to pay fees –

1. (1) Any person who refuses to pay any fee due from him to the Panchayat or Gram Sabha under this Act or rules or bye-laws made thereunder, may be ejected from the occupation of any property of the Panchayat or Gram Sabha by the prescribed authority on the application of the Panchayat or Gram Sabha, as the case may be.
2. (2) The prescribed authority shall, after giving such person a reasonable opportunity of being heard, pass such order as it deems fit.

Gram Panchayat or Gram Sabha may execute works on default by owner or occupier and recover expenses —

1. (1) Where a direction for the execution of any work is given by the Gram Panchayat or Gram Sabha under this Act and the default is made in the execution of such work, the Gram Panchayat or Gram Sabha may cause such work to be executed and the expenses incurred by such execution shall be recovered from the owner or occupier in default.
2. (2) The expenses incurred under sub-section
3. (1) shall be recovered as arrears of land revenue from the person in default.

Change of headquarters of Gram Panchayat, division, meeting and change of Gram Sabha —

1. (1) The State Government may, by notification, change the headquarters of a Gram Panchayat.
2. (2) The State Government may, by notification, divide the Gram Sabha or alter the area of the Gram Sabha.
3. (3) The State Government may, by notification, change the meeting place or date of the Gram Sabha.
4. (4) All changes made under sub-sections (1),
5. (2) and
6. (3) shall come into force from the date of publication of the notification.

Dissolution of Gram Panchayat -

1. (1) If at any time the State Government or the prescribed authority is satisfied that a Gram Panchayat is not competent to perform or persistently makes default in the performance of the duties imposed on it by or under this Act or any other law for the time being in force or exceeds or abuses its powers, the State Government or the prescribed authority may, after due enquiry, by an order dissolve such Gram Panchayat.
2. (2) No order under sub-section
3. (1) shall be passed unless the Gram Panchayat has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
4. (3) On the dissolution of the Gram Panchayat under sub-section (1), the following consequences shall ensue, namely -
   • (a) all the office-bearers shall vacate their offices from the date of the order;
   • (b) all the powers and duties shall, during the period of dissolution, be exercised and performed by such person or persons or committee of persons as the State Government or the prescribed authority may appoint in this behalf, and where a committee of persons is so appointed, the State Government or the prescribed authority shall also appoint a head of such committee.
5. (4) Any person appointed under clause
   • (b) of sub-section
6. (3) to perform the duties of the Gram Panchayat shall receive such payment from the Gram Panchayat Fund as the State Government may, by order, determine.
7. (5) The Gram Panchayat dissolved under sub-section
8. (1) shall be reconstituted in accordance with the provisions of this Act within a period of six months from the date of such dissolution:

Change in boundaries of block and Zila Panchayat Change in boundaries of block and Zila Panchayat -

1. (1) The State Government may, by notification, change the boundaries of a block or Zila Panchayat.
2. (2) Upon such change under sub-section (1), the State Government may make such incidental and consequential provisions as may be necessary for the administration of the areas affected by such change, including provisions for the regrouping of existing Gram Panchayats or for the redistribution of their assets and liabilities.
3. (3) No such change shall be made without giving the Gram Panchayat or other local authority concerned a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the proposed change.

Management of Government land.—(1) The State Government may, by notification, vest in a Panchayat such Government land as may be necessary for the purpose of this Act.

1. (2) The management, control and administration of all such land shall be vested in the Panchayat, subject to such conditions/restrictions as may be prescribed by the State Government.