Government’s power to direct the taking of action and to appoint a person to take action in default at expense of the

The section came into force on the 26th day of January 1974 vide Extraordinary Gazette No.11, dated 17th January 1974.

1. (a) that any duty imposed on any municipal authority by or under this Act or any other Act or by any order made or direction issued by the Government in exercise of any power conferred by or under this Act or any other Act has not been performed or has been performed in an imperfect, inefficient or unsuitable manner, or
2. (b) that adequate financial provision has not been made for the performance of any such duty, the Government may, by order, direct the council or the Commissioner within a period to be specified in the order to make arrangements to its satisfaction for the proper performance of the duty or to make financial provision to its satisfaction for the performance of the duty, as the case may be: Provided that, unless in the opinion of the Government the immediate execution of such order is necessary, the Government shall, before making an order under this sub-section, give the council an opportunity of showing cause why such order should not be made.

1. (2) If, within the period fixed by an order issued under sub-section (1), any action directed under that sub-section has not been duly taken, the Government may, by order –
   • (a) appoint some person to take the action so directed, (b) fix the remuneration to be paid to him, and
   • (c) direct that such remuneration and the cost of taking such action shall be defrayed out of the municipal fund, and, if necessary, that any one or more of the taxes authorised by this Act shall be levied or increased, but not so as to exceed any maximum specified by this Act.
2. (3) For the purpose of taking the action directed as aforesaid, the person appointed under sub-section (2) shall have power to make such contracts as are necessary, may exercise any of the powers conferred on any municipal authority by or under this Act and specified in this behalf in the order issued under sub-section (2), and shall be entitled to protection under this Act as if he were a municipal authority.
3. (4) The Government may, in addition to or instead of directing the levy or increase of any of the said taxes, direct, by notification, that any sum of money which may in its opinion be required for giving effect to its orders be borrowed by debentures on the security of all or any of the said taxes at such rate of interest and upon such terms as to the time of repayment and otherwise as may be specified in the notification.
4. (5) The provisions of section 214 shall, as far as may be, apply to any loan raised in pursuance of this section.
5. (6) The Government may, with the consent of the municipal council, undertake on its behalf the construction of water-supply, drainage or other works, appoint persons to carry out the construction of such works, and direct that the expenses, including the pay of such persons, be paid from the municipal fund.
6. (7) If expenses which the Government has directed under sub-section (6) to be paid from the municipal fund are not so paid, the Director may, with the previous sanction of the Government, make an order directing the person having the custody of the municipal fund to pay it in priority to any other charge against such fund except charges for the service of authorised loan.
7. (8) Such person shall, so far as the funds to the credit of the municipal council admit, be bound to comply with such order. 1 [108. Power of Government to remove Chairman.- (1) The Government-
   • (a) on its own motion, or
   • (b) on a representation in writing signed by not less than two-thirds of members of the sanctioned strength of the municipal council containing a statement of charges against the Chairman and presented in person to such officer as may be specified by the Government in this behalf by notification by any two of the members of the municipal council, if satisfied that the Chairman wilfully omits or refuses to carry out or disobeys any of the provisions of this Act, or any rule, bye-law, regulation, or lawful order or direction made or issued under this Act or abuses any of the powers vested in him, shall, by notice in writing, require the Chairman to offer within a specified date, his explanation with respect to his acts of omission or commission mentioned in the notice.
8. (2) (a) If the explanation is received within the specified date and the Government considers that the explanation is satisfactory, the Government may drop further action with respect to the notice.
   • (b) If no explanation is received within the specified date or if the explanation received is in its opinion not satisfactory, the Government shall forward to any officer specified by the Government in this behalf (hereinafter in this section referred to as the specified officer), a copy of the notice referred to in subsection (1) and the explanation of the Chairman with a proposal for the removal of the Chairman from office.
9. (3) the specified officer shall then convene a meeting, for the consideration of the notice and the explanation, if any, and the proposal for the removal of the Chairman, at the office of the municipal council at a date and time appointed by the said officer.
10. (4) A copy of the notice of the meeting shall be caused to be delivered to the Chairman concerned and to all the members of the municipal council by specified officer at least seven days before the date of the meeting.
11. (5) (a) The specified officer shall preside over the meeting convened under this section.
    • (b) If within half-an-hour appointed for the meeting, the specified officer is not present to preside over the meeting, the meeting shall stand adjourned to a subsequent date and time to be appointed and notified to the members by the said specified officer: Provided that the date so appointed shall be not later than thirty days from the date appointed for the meeting under sub-section (3): Provided further that a notice of not less than seven clear days shall be given to the members of the date and time appointed for the adjourned meeting.
12. (6) Save as provided in sub-section (5), a meeting convened for the purpose of considering the notice of the Government and the explanation, if any, of the Chairman, and the proposal for the removal of the Chairman under this section shall not, for any reason, be adjourned.
13. (7) As soon as the meeting convened under this section is commenced, the specified officer shall read to the members of the municipal council the notice of the Government and the explanation, if any, of the Chairman, as the case may be, for the consideration of which it has been convened and declare it to be open for debate.
14. (8) (a) Such debate shall automatically terminate on the expiry of two hours from the time appointed for the commencement of the meeting, if it is not concluded earlier.
    • (b) Upon the conclusion of the debate or upon the expiry of the said period of two hours, as the case may be, the proposal shall be put to vote of the members.
15. (9) The specified officer shall not speak on the merits of the notice or explanation nor shall he be entitled to vote at the meeting.
16. (10) The decision of the municipal council accepting, or rejecting the proposal of the Government shall be duly recorded in the minutes of the meeting and a copy of the minutes shall forthwith, on the termination of the meeting, be forwarded by the specified officer to the Government.
17. (11) If the proposal has been accepted by the municipal council at the meeting, the Government shall, by notification, remove the Chairman from office.
18. (12) Any person in respect of whom a notification has been issued under sub-section (11) removing him from the office of Chairman, shall be ineligible for election as Chairman and for holding any of those offices until the date on which notice of the next ordinary election to the municipal council is published in the prescribed manner or the expiry of one year from the date specified in the notification whichever is earlier.] [108.A – Power of Government to remove Vice-Chairman.- (1) If in the opinion of the Government, the Vice-Chairman wilfully omits or refuses to carry out or disobeys any provision of this Act or any rule, bye-law, regulation or lawful order or direction made or issued under this Act or abuses any of the powers vested in him, the Government shall, by notice in writing, require the Vice-Chairman to offer within a specified date, his explanation with respect to his acts of omission or commission mentioned in the notice.
19. (2) The provisions of sub-section (2) to (12) of section 108 shall, as far as may be, apply in relation to the removal of the Vice-Chairman as they apply in relation to the removal of the Chairman by the Government on its own motion.] Inserted by Act 3 of 1996, Section 7 w.e.f. 30-8-1996. 1 109. Dissolution of council. – (1) If, in the opinion of the Government, a council is not competent to perform or persistently makes default in performing the duties imposed on it by law, or exceeds or abuses its powers, the Government may, by notification together with a statement of reasons therefor, in the Official Gazette, dissolve the council. Provided that the council shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before its dissolution.
20. (2) When the council is dissolved by notification under sub-section (1),.- 2 [(a) all councillors (including the Chairman) shall, on the date of dissolution, vacate their office as such councillors and the Chairman and the persons referred to in clause (b), (c), and (d) of sub-section (2) of section 7, shall cease to be represented in the council;]
    • (b) during the period of dissolution of the council, all powers and duties conferred and imposed upon the councillors by or under this Act or any other law, shall be exercised and performed by such officer or authority, as the Government may appoint in that behalf;
    • (c) all property vested in the council shall, until, it is reconstituted, vest in the Government.
21. (3) An election to constitute the council shall be completed before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution.
22. (4) An order of dissolution made under this section together with a statement of reasons therefor, shall be laid before the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory as soon as may be after it has been made. *110. Power of officers acting for or in default of municipal council and liability of municipal fund.- When the Director or person appointed by the Government lawfully takes action on behalf or in default of the municipal council under this act, he shall have all such powers as are necessary for the purpose, and shall be entitled to the same protection under this Act as the municipal authority whose powers he is exercising and compensation shall be recoverable from the municipal fund by any person suffering damage from the exercise of such powers to the same extent as if the action has been taken by such municipal authority. CHAPTER – VII MUNICIPAL ESTABLISHMENT *111. Appointment of municipal health officer and municipal engineer.- (1) For any municipality the Government may, after consulting the council concerned, sanction a post of municipal health officer and a post of municipal engineer: Provided that in the case of a municipality which has an annual income of less than three lakhs of rupees from ordinary receipts, the Government may, without sanctioning the post of municipal health officer or a municipal engineer, appoint any officer of the Public Health Department or Public Works Department on such terms as may be specified by the Government in this behalf to exercise the powers and discharge the functions of a municipal health officer or a municipal engineer, as the case may be: Provided further that when the officer of the Public Health Department or the Public Works Department is appointed to exercise the powers and discharge the functions under this Act, such of the powers and functions as are exercisable by any authority under this Act or any other law for the time being in force in consultation with the municipal health officer or municipal engineer shall be exercised by such authority after consultation with the concerned officer appointed under the foregoing proviso: Provided also that where is no municipal health officer or municipal engineer, the Commissioner shall exercise the powers and discharge the functions of such officer.
23. (2) The municipal health officer or municipal engineer shall devote his whole time to the duties of his office and shall not undertake any work unconnected with the municipality except with the sanction or under the direction of the Government.
24. (3) All the appointments to posts sanctioned under sub-section (1) shall be made by the Government.
25. (4) All the officers appointed under sub-section (3) shall, save as otherwise provided in the rules relating to the discipline and conduct of those officers, be deemed for all purposes as officers of the council and shall in the exercise of the powers and discharge of the functions under this Act be subject to such control and direction of the Chairman or Commissioner as may be prescribed.
26. (5) The Government shall pay out of the Consolidated Fund of the Union territory salaries, allowances, leave allowances, pension and contribution, if any, towards the provident fund or pension-cum-provident fund or pension-cumgratuity of every officer appointed by the Government under sub-section (3). *112. Government’s Power to regulate the method of recruitment, conditions of service, etc., of officers appointed under section 111.- (1) The Government shall have power.-
    • (a) to make rules to regulate the classification and method of recruitment, conditions of service, pay and allowances, and disciplinary conduct of the officers appointed under section 111;
    • (b) to recover from the council concerned the whole or such proportion of the salary and allowances paid to any such officer and such contribution towards his leave allowance, pension or provident-cum-pension fund or pension-cum-gratuity fund of such officer as the Government may, by general or special order, determine.
27. (2) The Government may at any time withdraw any officer appointed under section 111 and appoint another in his place and it shall withdraw such officer if such withdrawal is recommended by resolution passed at a special meeting called for the purpose and supported by the votes of not less than three-fifths of the sanctioned strength of the council. *113. Provincialisation of any class of municipal officers or servants.(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Government may, by notification, constitute any class of officers or servants of municipal councils into a common service for the Union territory. Explanation. -- Where such a common service is constituted under this section, the Government shall have power to include into it any class of officers or servants of local authorities established under any law for the time being in force.
28. (2) Upon the issue of a notification under sub-section (1), the Government shall have power to make rules to regulate the classification, methods of recruitment, including the manner of and the terms and conditions under which existing officer or servant shall be absorbed into, conditions of service, pay and allowances and discipline and conduct of the common service thereby constituted and such rules may vest jurisdiction in respect of all or any of such matters in relation to such cadre in the Government or in such other authority or authorities as may be specified therein.
29. (3) If any common cadre is constituted under sub-section (1), each council shall every year contribute out of its revenue such sum on account of its share of the expenditure on any officer or servant belonging thereto posted to serve under it incurred or to be incurred in that year for its purposes as the Government may by general or special order determine. Explanation. – In this section and in section 144 “existing officers” or “existing servants” means an officer or servant of an existing council within the meaning of section 506. *114. Establishment of the municipal council.- (1) The council may with the sanction of the Government create such posts of officers and servants other than those specified in sections 111 and 113 as it shall deem necessary for efficient execution of its duties under this Act.
30. (2) The Government may make rules to regulate the qualifications, pay, allowances, discipline and conduct and other conditions of service, the method of recruitment, and authority which may appoint any such officers and servants of municipal councils.
31. (3) The council shall, subject to the approval of the Government, decide the manner in which and the terms and conditions subject to which the existing officers and servants shall be absorbed in the posts created under sub-section (1).
32. (4) Subject to any rules which the Government may make in this behalf under sub-section (2), appointments to all posts under the municipal council the pay or the maximum pay of which exceeds one hundred rupees per mensem shall be made by the municipal council and appointments to all other posts under the municipal council shall be made by the Commissioner. The section came into force on the 26th day of January 1974 vide Extraordinary Gazette No.11, dated 17th January 1974. *115. Power of Government to transfer officers and servants of municipalities.(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Government shall have power to transfer any officer or servant of a municipality to the service of any other municipality.
33. (2) The Government shall have power to issue such general or special directions as it may think necessary for the purpose of giving due effect to transfers made under sub-section (1). *116. Power to grant leave to establishment.- The Commissioner may grant leave to all municipal officers and other employees of the municipality. *117. Special provisions regarding officers and other employees of the Government lent to council.- (1) (a) The Government may, on the application of any municipal council, place the services of any of its officers or other employees at the disposal of the council to be employed by it for the purposes of this Act.
    • (b) the council shall pay any officer or other employee so employed the salary he may be entitled to receive under the rules of the service to which he belongs, and shall also make any contribution towards pension and leave allowances of such servant as may be required, by the conditions of his service under the Government, to be paid by him or on his behalf.
34. (2) If such officer or other employee while employed by the municipal council or if any other servant of the council does any work for the Government, the Government shall contribute to the municipal fund so much of the salary of such officer or other employee as the Government may consider to be an equivalent for such work.
35. (3) No officer or other employee employed by a municipal council shall without the previous consent of the Government, be dismissed or removed from such employment or placed under suspension during such employment.
36. (4) The officers and other employees employed by municipal council shall be entitled to leave and other privileges in accordance with the regulations applicable to the department of the general administration to which they belong. CHAPTER – VIII Taxation *118. Taxes to be imposed.- (1) (a) Subject to any general or special order which the Government may make in this behalf, every municipal council shall impose, for the purposes of this Act, the following taxes, namely: -
    • (i) a property tax;
    • (ii) a profession tax;
    • (iii) a tax on advertisements other than advertisements published in the newspapers.
    • (b) Every municipal council shall, with the sanction of and subject to such rules as may be prescribed by the Government, impose.-
      • (i) a duty on certain transfers of immovable property in the form of additional stamp duty in accordance with the provisions of section 158;
      • (ii) a tax on entertainments.
37. (2) Subject to the previous sanction of the Government and to any general or special order which the Government may make in this behalf every municipal council may levy for the purposes of this Act, any of the following taxes, namely: --
    • (a) a duty on toddy trees in the form of additional excise duty on toddy trees;
    • (b) a tax on any building or land within municipal limit used for anyone or more of the purposes specified in Schedule III, which shall not exceed five per cent of the tax levied under section 121 and shall be in addition to the fees charged for any licence granted under sub-section (1) of section 355 and the property tax;
    • (c) a toll on animals and vehicles;
    • (cc) a fee on every motor vehicle entering into any place of pilgrimage or tourist resort in any municipal area for any specified period or throughout the year, and different rates may be specified for different types of motor vehicles having regard to the local conditions and services rendered by the municipality during such period Explanation—For the purpose of this section, the expression “motor vehicle” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it under section 2 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Central Act 59 of 1988)];
    • (d) any other tax which the Legislature of the Union territory has power to impose in the Union territory.
38. (3) The taxes specified in sub-sections (1) and (2) shall be assessed and levied in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder.

¹ Substituted by Act 3 of 1996, section 6, w.e.f. 30-8-1996.

¹ Substituted by Act 4 of 1994, Section 15, w.e.f. 23-4-94.

² Substituted by Act 3 of 1996, Section 8, w.e.f. 30-8-96.