Disqualifications for membership of a Panchayat or a Municipality

A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being a member of a Panchayat or a Municipality, - (a) if he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State; or (b) if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court; or (c) if he is an undischarged insolvent; or (d) if he has in proceedings for questioning the validity or regularity of an election, been found guilty of any corrupt practice; or (e) if he has been found guilty of any offence punishable under section 153A or section 171 E or section 171 F or section 376 section 376A or section 376B or section 376 C or section 376 D or section 498 A or section 505 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 or any offence punishable under Chapter XIII of this Act unless a period of six years has elapsed since the date of such conviction; or (f) if he holds an office of profit under a Panchayat or a Municipality; or (g) if he holds an office of profit under the Government of India or any State Government; or (h) if he is interested in any subsisting contract made with, or any work being done for, that Panchayat or Municipality except as a share-holder (other than a Director) in an incorporated company or as a member of a co-operative society; or (i) if he is retained or employed in any professional capacity either personally or in the name of a firm in which he is a partner, or with which he is engaged in a professional capacity, in connection with any cause or proceeding in which the Panchayat or the Municipality is interested or concerned; or (j) if he, having held any office under the State Government or any Panchayat or any Municipality or any other State level authority or any Government company or any corporated body owned or controlled by the State Government or Government of India, has been dismissed from service unless a period of four years has elapsed since his dismissal; or (k) if he is so disqualified by or under any law for the time being in force for the purposes of elections to the Legislature of Punjab State: Provided that no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than twenty five years of age, if he has attained the age of twenty one years; or (l) if he has been convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude or an offence implying of any defect in the character of a member as defined in clause (zg) of section 2 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, (m) if he is registered as a habitual offender under the Punjab Habitual Offenders (Control and Reform) Act, 1952 (Punjab Act No. 12 of 1952), or any other law for the time being in force; or (n) If he has been convicted of an offence under the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955(Central Act No.22 of 1955), within a period of five years immediately preceding the last date of the filing of the nomination papers; or (o) if he is a whole-time salaried employee of any local authority, Statutory Corporation or Board or a Co-operative Society registered under the Punjab Co-operative Societies Act, 1961 (Punjab Act No. 25 of 1961) or of the State Government or the Central Government; or (p) if he has been notified as disqualified for appointment as public servant except on medical grounds: or (q) if he has not paid the arrears of tax imposed by the Panchayat or the Municipality, as the case may be; or (r) if he is in un-authorized occupation of property belonging to any local authority; or (s) if he is a member of either House of the Parliament or of the Legislature of Punjab State: Provided that a member of either House of the Parliament or the Legislature of Punjab State may be elected as a member as defined in clause (zg) of section 2 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (Punjab Act No. 9 of 1994) or as a member of the Municipality, if, along with his nomination paper, he gives undertaking to the effect that he shall resign the membership of either House of the Parliament or of the Legislature of Punjab State, as the case may be, and so resigns before taking the oath or making affirmation for taking over the office as such member: or (t) if he refuses to act, or becomes, in the opinion of the State Government, incapable of acting, or has been declared a bankrupt or an insolvent or has been convicted of any such offence or subjected by a criminal court to any such order as implies, in the opinion of the State Government, a defect of character which unfits him to be a member of the Panchayat or the Municipality; or (u) if he has been declared, by notification, to be disqualified for employment in, or has been dismissed from, the public service and the reason for the disqualification or dismissal is such as implies in the opinion of the State Government a defect of character which unfits him to be a member of the Panchayat or the Municipality; or (v) if, being a legal practitioner, he acts or appears in any legal proceeding on behalf of any person against the Panchayat or the Municipality, or on behalf of or against the State Government, where in the opinion of the State Government, such action or appearance is contrary to the interest of the Panchayat or the Municipality.