Chapter I PRELIMINARY

Short title, extent and commencement. –

1. (1) This Act may be called, the Puducherry Village and Commune Panchayats Act, 1973.
2. (2) It extends to the whole of the Union territory except the municipalities governed by the Puducherry Municipalities Act, 1973.
3. (3) It shall come into force on such date, as the Government may, by notification, appoint: Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act or for different areas, and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.

Definitions. – In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, --

1. (1) "Administrator" means the Administrator of the Union territory of Puducherry appointed by the President of India under article 239 of the Constitution; (1-A) "building" includes –
   • (a) a house, out-house, stable, shop, hut, latrine, godown, shed, wall (other than a boundary wall not exceeding two and a half metres in height) and any other structure whether of masonry, bricks, mud, wood, metal, or any other material whatsoever;
   • (b) a structure on wheels or simply resting on the ground without foundations; and
   • (c) a ship, vessel, boat, tent, van and any other structure used for human habitation or used for keeping or storing any article or goods;
2. (2) "casual vacancy" means a vacancy occurring otherwise than by efflux of time and "casual election" means an election held to fill a casual vacancy;
3. (3) "Chairman" and "Vice-Chairman" shall respectively mean the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the commune panchayat council; (3A) "President" and "Vice-President" shall respectively mean the 'Chairperson' and 'Vice-chairperson' of the village panchayat;
4. (4) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the commune panchayat;
5. (5) "commune panchayat" means any local area which is declared to be a commune panchayat under this Act;
6. (6) "commune panchayat council" means the body constituted for the administration of a commune panchayat under this Act;
7. (7) "company" means any company as defined in the Companies Act, 1956 (Central Act 1 of 1956) and includes –
   • (a) any foreign company within the meaning of section 591 of that Act;
   • (b) any co-operative society registered or deemed to be registered under the law relating to co-operative societies for the time being in force; and
   • (c) any body corporate, or any firm or association carrying on business in the Union territory whether incorporated or not and whether its principal place of business is situated in the said Union territory or not;
8. (8) "Director" means a Director appointed under section 195 and also includes any officer authorised by the Government to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Director;
9. (9) "Election authority" or "Election Commission" means the Commission consisting of the Election Commissioner appointed by the Administrator under section 9A;
10. (10) "Executive authority" means, in the case of a village panchayat having an executive officer, the executive officer and in the case of any other village panchayat, the President thereof;
11. (11) "Executive Officer" means the executive officer of a village panchayat;
12. (12) "Government" means the Government of the Union territory of Puducherry; (12-A) "Gram Sabha" means a body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls relating to a panchayat village comprised within the area of a village panchayat;
13. (13) "house" means a building fit for human occupation, whether as a residence or otherwise, having a separate principal entrance from the common way, and includes any shop, workshop or warehouse or any building used for garaging or parking buses or as a bus stand;
14. (14) "hut" means any building which is constructed principally of wood, mud, leaves, grass or thatch or metallic sheets and includes any temporary structure of whatever size or any small building of whatever material made, which the village panchayat may declare to be a hut for the purposes of this Act;
15. (15) "latrine" means a place set apart for defecating or urinating or both and includes a closet of the dry or water-carriage type and urinal;
16. (16) "member" means a member of a village panchayat or of a commune panchayat council, as the case may be and includes co-opted or nominated member;
17. (17) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
18. (18) "ordinary vacancy" means a vacancy occurring by efflux of time and "ordinary election" means an election held to fill ordinary vacancy;
19. (19) "owner" includes –
    • (a) the person for the time being receiving or entitled to receive whether on his own account or on behalf of another person as agent, trustee, guardian, manager or receiver or for any religious or charitable purpose the rents or profits of the property in connection with which the word is used; and
    • (b) the person for the time being in charge of the animal or vehicle in connection with which the word is used;
20. (20) "panchayat" means an institution of self-government constituted under this Act for the rural areas, called “village panchayat” at the panchayat village level and "commune panchayat council" at the commune level; (20-A) "panchayat area" means the territorial area of a panchayat; (20-B) "Panchayat village" means a village or a group of villages specified by the Administrator by public notification to be a panchayat village for the purposes of this Act, which has a population of not less than one thousand and five hundred and over which a village panchayat has jurisdiction; (20-BB) "place of pilgrimage" means any place being a place of religious worship as may be specified by the Government by notification in the Official Gazette; (20-C) "Population" means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published;
21. (21) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
22. (22) "President" means the President of a village panchayat;
23. (23) "private road" means any street, road, square, court, alley, passage, cart-track, foot-path or riding path which is not a public road", but does not include a pathway made by the owner of premises on his own land to secure access to, or for the convenient use of, such premises;
24. (24) "public road" means any street, road, square, court, alley, passage, cart-track, foot-path or riding path, over which the public have a right of way, whether a thorough-fare or not and includes –
    • (a) the roadway over any public bridge or causeway;
    • (b) the footway attached to any such road, public bridge or causeway;
    • (c) the drains attached to any such road, public bridge or causeway, and the land, whether covered or not by any pavement, verandah, or other structure, which lies on either side of the roadway up to the boundaries of the adjacent property, whether that property is private property or property belonging to the Government;
25. (25) "residence" – "reside" a person is deemed to have his residence or to reside in any house if he sometimes uses any portion thereof as a sleeping apartment, and a person is not deemed to cease to reside in any such house merely because he is absent from it or has elsewhere another dwelling in which he resides, if he is at liberty to return to such house at any time and has not abandoned his intention for returning;
26. (26) "Scheduled Castes" means such castes, races or tribes or parts of, or groups within, such castes, races or tribes as are deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to the Union territory under article 341 of the Constitution;
27. (27) "territorial council" means the territorial council for panchayats established under section 232; (27-A) "tourist resort" means any place of tourist attraction as may be specified by the Government by notification in the Official Gazette;
28. (28) "Union territory" means the Union territory of Puducherry;
29. (29) "village panchayat" means the body constituted for the local administration of a panchayat village under this Act;
30. (30) "water-course" includes any river, stream or channel, whether natural or artificial;
31. (31) "year" means the financial year.

A. Gram Sabha. –

1. (1) Subject to the general or special orders of the Government, the Gram Sabha shall meet from time to time, but six months shall not intervene between any two meetings. If the village panchayat fails to convene Gram Sabha, the executive authority shall convene the Gram Sabha: Provided that one or more special meetings may be convened by the President at any time or on the demand of one-tenth of the total members of the Gram Sabha.
2. (2) The meetings of the Gram Sabha shall be presided over by the President and in his absence by the Vice-President, failing which by a person elected by the Gram Sabha for the purpose.
3. (3) The Gram Sabha shall consider the following matters and may make recommendations and suggestions to the village panchayat: --
   • (i) Consideration of the budget of the village panchayat for the next financial year;
   • (ii) Consideration of the actual income and expenditure of the village panchayat for each preceding financial year;
   • (iii) Consideration and scrutiny of the existing schemes and the activities of the village panchayat in relation thereto;
   • (iv) Scrutiny of the completed schemes and activities of the village panchayat in relation thereto;
   • (v) Recommendations regarding the places where schemes for economic development and social justice and other related works are to be located in the panchayat village;
   • (vi) Formation of one or more vigilance committees, executive committees and such other committees, as may be necessary, to supervise the works being executed by the village panchayat and to put up reports concerning them in its meeting;
   • (vii) Consideration of audit reports of village panchayat and their compliances;
   • (viii) Consideration of the progress reports of the works being executed by the village panchayat.
   • (ix) Consideration of the recommendations of its various Committees;
   • (x) Directions to the village panchayat or to the executive committees or any other committees with regard to the execution of the policy framed by it;
   • (xi) Consideration of such activities as are vested in it by the Government from time to time; and
   • (xii) Exercise of such other powers and performance of such other functions, as the Government may authorise.
4. (4) The village panchayat shall give due consideration to the recommendations and suggestions of the Gram Sabha.
5. (5) The procedure for convening and conducting the meetings of the Gram Sabha shall be such as may be prescribed.
6. (6) The quorum of the meetings of the Gram Sabha shall be one-third of the total membership of the Sabha or one hundred members, whichever is less.

Formation of panchayat village.–

1. (1) The Government shall by notification specify the name of a panchayat village. (2)
   • (a) The Administrator may, by notification –
     • (i) include in or exclude from a panchayat village any local area; or
     • (ii) cancel or modify a notification issued under sub-section (1); or
     • (iii) [Omitted]
   • (b) Before issuing a notification under clause (a), the Administrator shall give the village panchayat or village panchayats which will be affected by the issue of such notification a reasonable opportunity for showing cause against the proposal and shall consider the objections, if any, of such village panchayat or village panchayats.
2. (3) [Omitted]
3. (4) The Administrator may pass such orders as he may deem fit –
   • (a) as to the disposal of the property vested in a village panchayat which has ceased to exist, and the discharge of its liabilities;
   • (b) as to the disposal of any part of the property, vested in a village panchayat which has ceased to exercise jurisdiction over any local area, and the discharge of the liabilities of the village panchayat relating to such property or arising from such local area.
4. (5) An order made under sub-section (4) may contain such supplemental, incidental and consequential provision as the Administrator may deem necessary, and in particular may direct –
   • (i) that any tax, fee or other sum due to the village panchayat or where a village panchayat has ceased to exercise jurisdiction over any local area, such tax, fee or other sum due to the village panchayat as relates to that area shall be payable to such authorities as may be specified in the order;
   • (ii) that appeals, petitions, or other applications with reference to any such tax, fee or sum which are pending on the date on which the village panchayat ceased to exist or, as the case may be, on the date on which the village panchayat ceased to exercise jurisdiction over the local area, shall be disposed of by such authorities as may be specified in the order.

Township. –

1. (1) The Government may by notification declare any panchayat village or panchayat villages or any specified part thereof to be a township if it is an industrial, labour or institutional colony or a health resort.
2. (2) In regard to any area declared to be a township the Government shall, by notification, constitute a township committee.
3. (3) A notification issued by the Government may direct that any functions vested in a village panchayat by or under this Act shall be transferred to and performed by the township committee and shall provide for ---
   • (i) the total number of members of the township committee;
   • (ii) the persons who shall be members of the township committee or the manner in which they shall be chosen;
   • (iii) the person who shall be Chairman of the township committee or the manner in which he shall be elected or appointed;
   • (iv) the term of office of members and the Chairman;
   • (v) the restrictions and conditions subject to which the township committee may perform its functions; and
   • (vi) the procedure of the township committee.
4. (4) [Omitted] Explanation. – In this section, the term 'industrial, labour or institutional colony' means any area wherein the majority of the inhabitants are engaged in any industry or are workmen, or are connected with any institution in the area in any manner whatsoever.

Formation of commune panchayats.--

1. (1) The Government may, from time to time, publish a notification of its intention to constitute a commune panchayat for a local area comprising such number of panchayat villages as it may think fit.
2. (2) Any inhabitant of a local area in respect of which any such notification has been published may submit his objection in writing to anything contained in the notification to the Government within six weeks from the publication of the notification and the Government shall take all such objections into consideration.
3. (3) After the expiry of six weeks from the publication of the notification and after considering the objections, if any, which have been submitted, the Government may, by notification –
   • (a) declare the local area to be a commune panchayat; and
   • (b) specify the name of the commune panchayat.
4. (4) The Government may, by notification –
   • (i) exclude from a commune panchayat, any panchayat village or specified area comprised therein, or
   • (ii) include in a commune panchayat any panchayat village or specified area, or
   • (iii) cancel or modify a notification issued under sub-section (3), or
   • (iv) alter the name of a commune panchayat.
5. (5) Before issuing a notification under sub-section (4), the Government shall give the commune panchayat council or commune panchayat councils and the village panchayat or village panchayats which will be affected by the issue of such notification a reasonable opportunity for showing cause against the proposal and shall consider their objections, if any.
6. (6) The Government may pass such orders as it may deem fit ---
   • (a) for the disposal of the assets of, or institutions belonging to the commune panchayat council which has ceased to exist, and for the discharge of the liabilities, if any, of such commune panchayat council relating to such assets or institutions, or
   • (b) for the disposal of any part of the assets of or institutions belonging to, a commune panchayat council which has ceased to exercise jurisdiction over any panchayat village or any specified area and for the discharge of liabilities, if any, of the commune panchayat council relating to such assets or institutions.
7. (7) An order made under sub-section (6) may contain such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions as the Government may deem necessary and in particular may direct ---
   • (i) that any tax, fee or other sum due to the commune panchayat council or where a commune panchayat council has ceased to exercise jurisdiction over any panchayat village or any specified area, such tax, fee or other sum due to the commune panchayat council as relates to that panchayat village or any specified area shall be payable to such authorities specified in the order;
   • (ii) that appeals, petitions or other applications with reference to any such tax, fee or sum which are pending on the date on which the commune panchayat council ceased to exist, or as the case may be, on the date on which the commune panchayat council ceased to exercise jurisdiction over the panchayat village or specified area shall be disposed of by such authorities as may be specified in the order.

Constitution of village panchayats and their incorporation. –

1. (1) A village panchayat shall be constituted for every panchayat village with effect from such date as may be specified in the notification issued in that behalf by the Government.
2. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the administration of the panchayat village shall vest in the village panchayat but the village panchayat shall not be entitled to exercise functions expressly assigned by or under this Act or any other law to its President or executive authority or to any commune panchayat council or any other authority.
3. (3) Every village panchayat shall be a body corporate by the name specified in the notification issued under section 3, shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, with power, subject to any restriction or condition imposed by or under this Act or any other law, to acquire, hold and dispose of property (movable or immovable), enter into contracts, and do all things necessary, for the purposes for which it is constituted and may by the said name sue and be sued.

Strength of a village panchayat. -

1. (1) The total number of elected members of a village panchayat shall be notified by the Director: Provided that the ratio between the population of the territorial area of a panchayat village and the number of seats in the village panchayat to be filled by election shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the Union territory: Provided further that all the seats in the village panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the panchayat village area and for this purpose, each panchayat village area shall be divided by the Government into territorial constituencies in such manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the panchayat village area.
2. (2) The Director may, from time to time, by notification, alter the total number of members of a village panchayat notified under sub-section (1).
3. (3) [Omitted]
4. (4) [Omitted]

Constitution of commune panchayat councils for commune panchayat and their incorporation. --

1. (1) A commune panchayat council shall be constituted for each commune panchayat with effect from such date as may be specified in the notification issued in that behalf by the Government.
2. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the administration of the commune panchayat shall vest in the commune panchayat council but the commune panchayat council shall not be entitled to exercise functions expressly assigned by or under this Act or any other law to its Chairman or the Commissioner or to the village panchayat or any other authority: Provided that if and so long as there is no village panchayat in any part of a commune panchayat, the commune panchayat council shall exercise all the powers including the power of taxation, discharge the duties, perform the functions and be credited with the receipts and debited with the charges of the village panchayat and the Chairman and the Commissioner of the commune panchayat council shall exercise the powers, discharge the duties and perform the functions of the President and the executive authority respectively.
3. (3) Every commune panchayat council shall be a body corporate by the name of the commune panchayat specified in the notification issued under section 5, shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, with power, subject to any restriction or condition imposed by or under this Act or any other law, to acquire, hold and dispose of property (movable or immovable), enter into contracts, and do all things necessary, for the purpose for which it is constituted and may by the said name sue and be sued.

Composition and strength of a commune panchayat council.– A commune panchayat council constituted for a commune panchayat shall consist of ---

1. (i) such number of seats in a commune panchayat council, as may be notified by the Director, to be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the commune panchayat: Provided that the ratio between the population of the territorial area of a commune panchayat council and the number of seats in such council to be filled by election shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the Union territory: Provided further that each commune panchayat shall be divided by the Government into territorial constituencies in such manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall, as far as practicable, be the same throughout the commune panchayat;
2. (ii) Presidents of all village panchayats in the commune Panchayat;
3. (iii) one non-official member of each township committee in the commune panchayat chosen in the prescribed manner;
4. (iv) the member of the House of the People and the members of the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory representing constituencies which comprises wholly or partly a commune panchayat; and
5. (v) the member of the Council of States registered as an elector within the commune panchayat: Provided that the chairperson of a village panchayat and other members of a commune panchayat council, whether or not chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in a commune panchayat, shall have the right to vote in the meetings of the commune panchayat council].

Elections to Panchayats. –

1. (1) The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for and the conduct of, all elections to the panchayats shall be vested in the Election Commission consisting of an Election Commissioner to be appointed by the Administrator.
2. (2) Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory, the conditions of service and tenure of office of the Election Commissioner shall be such as the Administrator may by rule determine: Provided that the Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as judge of a High Court and the conditions of service of the Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
3. (3) The Administrator shall, when so requested by the Election Commission, make available to the Election Commission such staff which the Administrator considers necessary for the discharge of the functions conferred on the Election Commission by sub-section (1)].

Election of members. – The members of the panchayat shall be elected in such manner as may be prescribed:

Reservation of seats Reservation of seats. –

1. (1) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes in every panchayat 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 filed by direct election in that panchayat as the population of the Scheduled Castes in that panchayat area bears to the total population of that area. The number of such reserved seats shall be determined by the Government by order published in the Official Gazette.
2. (2) One-third of the total number of seats reserved under sub-section (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes.
3. (3) One-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every panchayat shall be reserved for women.
4. (4) The offices of chairpersons in the panchayats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and women: Provided that the number of offices of chairpersons reserved for the Scheduled Castes in the panchayats at each level shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of such offices in the panchayats at each level as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Union territory bears to the total population of the Union territory, the number of such reserved offices being determined by the Government by notification published in the Official Gazette: Provided further that one-third of the total number of offices of chairpersons in the panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women: Provided also that while determining the reserved seats for women under sub-sections (2),
5. (3) and (4), fraction, if any, shall be counted as one.
6. (5) The allotment of reserved seats under sub-sections (1),
7. (2) and (3) or the allotment of reserved offices of chairpersons under sub-section (4) shall be made by the Election Commission, once in five years, by rotation to different constituencies, in a panchayat or to offices of chairpersons of different panchayats in the Union territory. Such allotment shall be made in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed and in such manner that a constituency in a panchayat or an office of chairperson of a panchayat is reserved again only after exhausting such reservation in respect of every other constituency or office of chairperson, as the case may be].
8. (6) The reservation of seats under sub-sections (1) and (2) and the reservation of offices of chairpersons (other than the reservation for women) under sub-section (4) in favour of Scheduled Castes shall cease to have effect on the expiration of the period specific in article 334 of the Constitution.
9. (7) Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to prevent the members of the Scheduled Castes and women from standing for election to the non-reserved seats and the non-reserved office of chairpersons in the panchayats.
10. (8) The Government may prescribe for reservation of seats in any panchayat at any level in favour of backward class of citizens:

Delimitation of constituencies, etc *12. Delimitation of constituencies, etc. –

1. (1) For the purposes of election of members of a panchayat, the Government, after previous publication and hearing objections, shall, by notification, divide the panchayat village and commune panchayat, as the case may be, into territorial constituencies.
2. (2) The Election Commission shall, after previous publication in the prescribed manner, determine the constituencies in which seats if any, are to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and/or for the women.
3. (3) All the electors of a constituency, irrespective of the community or sex, shall be entitled to vote at any election to any seat in that constituency whether reserved or not.

*13. Duration of panchayats, etc. –

1. (1) Every panchayat, unless sooner dissolved under any law for the time being in force, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer.
2. (2) An election to constitute a panchayat shall be completed ---
   • (a) before the expiry of its duration specified in sub-section (1); and
   • (b) before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution: Provided that where the remainder of the period for which the dissolved panchayat would have continued is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election under this sub-section for constituting the panchayat for such period.
3. (3) A panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a panchayat before the expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved panchayat would have continued under sub-section (1) had it not been so dissolved.
4. (4) Every casual vacancy of an elected member of a panchayat shall be filled, subject to sub-section (2), as soon as possible.

*14. Filling of vacancies of elected members. – If at an ordinary or casual election, no person is elected to fill any vacancy, a fresh election shall be held on such days as the election authority may fix.

¹⁵ Omitted

*15. [Omitted]

Election to more than one seat. –

1. (1) If a person is elected to more than one seat in one or more @ [omitted] panchayats, then unless he resigns all but one of the seats by writing under his hand addressed to the election authority within the time specified in sub-section (2), all the seats shall become vacant.
2. (2) Such resignation shall be made ---
   • (a) where the date of declaration of his election to more than one seat is on the same day, fourteen days from that date; and
   • (b) where the dates of declaration of his election to more than one seat are different, fourteen days from the last of su

Election to more than one seat. – (1) If a person is elected to more than one seat in one or more @ [omitted] panchayats, then unless he resigns all but one of the seats by writing under his hand addressed to the election authority within the time specified in sub-section (2), all the seats shall become vacant. (2) Such resignation shall be made --- (a) where the date of declaration of his election to more than one seat is on the same day, fourteen days from that date; and (b) where the dates of declaration of his election to more than one seat are different, fourteen days from the last of su