West Bengal Municipal Elections Act, 1994
No: 24 Dated: Jul, 20 1994
THE WEST BENGAL MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS ACT, 1994
West Bengal Act XXXIV of 1994
An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the holding of elections to the Municipalities in West Bengal.
Whereas it is expedient to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the holding of elections to the Municipalities in West Bengal;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
CHAPTER I
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) this Act may be called the West Bengal Municipal Elections Act, 1994.
(2) It extends to the whole of West Bengal.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification, appoint.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "article" means an article of the Constitution;
(b) "Commission" means the West Bengal State Election Commission referred to in sub-section (1) of section 3 of the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994;
(c) "constituency" means a ward of a Municipality;
(d) "Constitution" means the Constitution of India;
(e) "election" means the election to fill a seat or seats in a Municipality.
(f) "elector", in relation to a constituency of a Municipality, means the person whose name is entered in the electoral roll of that Municipality for the time being in force and who is not subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950;
(g) "member" means a person elected at an election to fill a seat in a Municipality;
(h) "Municipal area" means the territorial area of a Municipality;
(i) "Municipality" has the same meaning as in clause (e) of article 243P of the Constitution;
(j) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
(k) "order" means an order published in the Official Gazette;
(l) "ordinarily resident" has the same meaning as assigned to it in section 20 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950;
(m) "Panchayat" has the same meaning as in [clause (e)] of article 243 of the Constitution;
(n) "person" does not include a body of persons;
(o) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(p) "public holiday" means any day which is a public holiday for the purposes of section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881;
(q) "qualifying date" means the date specified as such by the Commission by notification for the purposes of this Act;
(r) "sign", in relation to a person who is unable to write his name, means to authenticate in such manner as may be prescribed;
(s) "ward" means an administrative division of Municipality;
(t) other expressions have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994.
3. Power to delimit municipal areas into wards. - (1) For the purpose of election of members of a Municipality, the Commission shall, having regard to population, dwelling pattern, geographical conditions and economic considerations of any municipal area, by notification, in the case of a new Municipality, of its own motion, and in the case of a Municipality already in existence at the time the notification is made, after consideration of the views of the Municipality, divide, in such manner as it thinks fit, such municipal area into such number of wards as may be determined by the State Government in this behalf:
Provided that the number of wards in the municipal areas of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation and the Howrah Municipal Corporation and the boundaries of the wards shall be such as is provided in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, and the Howrah Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, respectively.
(2) Each ward of a Municipality shall be a single-member constituency.
CHAPTER II
Officers
4. Officers. - The officers for the purpose of election shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of section 6 of the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994., and they shall exercise powers and perform functions in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994.
5. Co-ordination and supervision. - (1) Subject to the superintendence, direction and control of the Commission, the District Municipal Election Officer shall co-ordinate and supervise all work within his jurisdiction in connection with the preparation and revision of electoral rolls for all Municipalities.
(2) The District Municipal Election Officer shall perform such other functions as may be entrusted to him by the Commission.
6. Preparation and revision of electoral roll. - (1) The electoral roll for each Municipality shall be prepared and revised by a Municipal Electoral Registration Officer.
(2) A Municipal Electoral Registration Officer may, subject to any prescribed restrictions, employ such persons as he thinks fit for the preparation and revision of the electoral roll for the Municipality.
7. Functions of Assistant Municipal Electoral Registration Officer. - Every Assistant Municipal Electoral Registration Officer shall,-subject to the direction and control of the Municipal Electoral Registration Officer, be competent to perform any of the functions of the Municipal Electoral Registration Officer.
8. General duties of District Municipal Election Officer. - Subject to the superintendence, direction and control of the Commission, the District Municipal Election Officer shall supervise the conduct of all elections within his jurisdiction. The District Municipal Election Officer shall perform such other functions as may be entrusted to him by the Commission.
9. Municipal Returning Officer. - Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of section 6 of the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994., there shall be a Municipal Returning Officer for every constituency for every elections to fill a seat or seats in a Municipality:
Provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the Commission from designating or nominating the same person to be [the] Municipal Returning Officer for more than one constituency.
10. Assistant Municipal Returning Officer. - Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 6 of the West Bengal State Election Commission Act, 1994., every Assistant Municipal Returning Officer shall, subject to the control of the Municipal Returning Officer, be competent to perform any of the functions of the Municipal Returning Officer.