Amendment of Section 13

Section 13 of the Principal Act shall be substituted as follows, namely :- “Constitution of the Municipalities : (1) The Councillors elected in a general election or a bye-election of a Municipality in accordance with the provisions of any law relating to municipal elections in the State, shall constitute the Municipality. (2) The Municipality shall, unless dissolved earlier, continue for a period of five years from the date of its first meeting after the general election and no longer. (3) An election to constitute a Municipality shall be completed, as the case may be :- (a) before the expiry of the period specified in the sub-section (2), or (b) before the expiry of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution : Provided that where the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Municipality would have continued is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold an election for constitution of the Municipality for such period. (4) The Municipality constituted upon its dissolution before the expiration of the period specified in sub-section (2) shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Municipality would have continued under sub-section (2) had it not been so dissolved. (5) In a Municipal area newly constituted, the local authority having jurisdiction over such area immediately before such area was constituted a municipal area, shall continue to have jurisdiction and to perform its functions till such time, not exceeding six months from the date of the notification under section 6, as may be necessary for holding elections. (6) If, for any reason, it is not possible to hold the general election of a Municipality before the expiry of the period of five years specified in sub-section (2), the Municipality shall stand dissolved on the expiration of the said period and all the powers and functions vested in the municipal authorities under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force shall be exercised or performed, as the case may be, by such person or persons to be designated as Administrator or Board of Administrators as the State Government may, by notification, appoint. (7) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in every Municipality and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in that Municipality as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Municipal area or the Scheduled Tribes in the Municipal area bears to the total population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality. (8) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) of Article 243T of the Constitution shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes. (9) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Municipality shall reserved for women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality. (10) The offices of Chairmen in the Municipalities shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide. (11) The reservation of seats under clauses (1) and (2) and the reservation of offices of Chairmen (other than the reservation for women) under clause (4) of Article 243T of the Constitution shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period specified in Article 334 of the Constitution. (12) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making any provision for reservation of seats in any Municipality or offices of Chairmen in the Municipalities in favour of backward class of citizens.”