MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
13. Incorporation of Municipal Council.—A Municipal Council shall be a body corporate by its
name, having a perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of
property and to contract, and shall sue and be sued in its name.
14. Municipal administration.—Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the municipal
administration of a municipality shall vest in the Council or the Nagar Panchayat, as the case may be.
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15. Composition of Council.—(1) Every Council shall consist of such number of councillors as may
be fixed by the State Government from time to time by notification.
(2) Save as provided in sub-section (3), all the seats in a municipality shall be filled by persons
chosen by direct election from the territorial constituencies to be known as wards in the municipal area.
(3) The State Government may appoint a person having special knowledge or experience in
Municipal administration to be a member of the Municipal Council:
Provided that such person shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the Council.
16. Constitution and composition of Wards Committees.—(1) In respect of a municipality having
population of three lakhs or more there shall be constituted by the State Government, by order, such
number of Wards Committees as may be determined by it, so however, that each Wards Committee shall
consist of not less than five wards:
Provided that in constituting Wards Committees, the State Government shall maintain geographical
contiguity as far as possible.
(2) Each Wards Committee shall consist of—
(i) the members elected from the wards for which Wards Committee is constituted;
(ii) the Executive Officer who shall be the ex officio member; and
(iii) such other officers of the municipality as the State Government may specify to be ex officio
members of whom one specified officer shall be the Secretary of the Wards Committee:
Provided that the ex officio members shall have the right to speak and participate in the meetings of
the Wards Committee but shall not have the right to vote.
(3) The Chairperson of the Wards Committee shall be elected by the elected members thereof from
among themselves.
(4) The Chairperson shall cease to hold office if he ceases to be a member of the Wards Committee.
Any casual vacancy in the office of the Chairperson shall be filled by election of another Chairperson
from among the elected members of the Wards Committee as soon as may be after the occurrence of the
vacancy.
(5) The powers and functions of the Wards Committee and the manner of conduct of business at its
meetings shall be such as may be prescribed.
17. Reservation of seats.—(1) In every municipality, out of the total strength of elected members
determined under section 15, the State Government shall subject to such rules as may be prescribed, by
notification, reserve—
(i) such number of seats to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes as may be determined
by them, subject to the condition that 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 to the Municipal
Council, as the population of the Scheduled Castes, or as the case may be, of the Scheduled Tribes in
that municipality bears to the total population of that municipality; and such seats may be allotted by
rotation to different wards in the municipality;
(ii) not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under sub-section (1) shall be
reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes;
(iii) not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the
Scheduled Tribes and the Scheduled Castes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election
to every Council, for women; and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different wards in a
municipality.
Explanation.—In this section the expressions “Scheduled Castes”, “Scheduled Tribes” shall have the
meanings respectively assigned to them in clauses (24) and (25) of article 366 of the Constitution of India.
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(2) The office of Chairpersons of the municipalities shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the
Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the State Government may prescribe by notification in
this regard.
(3) The reservation of seats under sub-section (1) including the reservation of office of Chairperson
(other than the reservation for women) under sub-section (2) shall cease to have effect on the expiration
of the period specified in article 334 of the Constitution of India.
18. Allocation of reserved seats and delimitation of wards.—The State Government shall carry out
the determination of the boundaries of the wards in a municipality and the allocation of seats reserved in
favour of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women among the wards in the prescribed
manner.
19. Disqualifications for membership.—(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as and
for being, a member of a municipality—
(a) if he is so disqualified by or under any law for the time being in force for the purposes of
elections to the Manipur Legislative Assembly:
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;
(b) if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Manipur Legislative Assembly;
(c) if he is not registered as an elector in the electoral roll for a ward;
(d) if he is not ordinarily resident within the ward from which he is seeking election.
Explanation.—The expression “ordinarily resident” shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in
section 20 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 (43 of 1950).
(2) If any question arises as to whether a member of a municipality has become subject to any of the
disqualifications mentioned in sub-section (1) the question shall be referred for the decision of the
Election Tribunal in such manner as may be prescribed.
20. Oath of office.—(1) Every person who is elected or appointed as a Councillor of a municipality
shall, before entering upon his office under this Act, make and subscribe before such authority as may be
prescribed for the purpose, an oath or affirmation of his allegiance to the Constitution of India in the
prescribed form.
(2) Any person, having been elected, or appointed as a Councillor fails to make and subscribe, within
three months from the date of the first meeting of the municipality the oath or affirmation laid down in
sub-section (1) shall cease to hold his office and his office shall be deemed to have become vacant.
21. Appointment of administrator.—The State Government shall appoint a person as an
administrator to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of a municipality until a
municipality is constituted for such area under this Act:
Provided that the period of such appointment shall not exceed six months:
Provided further that an administrator appointed under the provisions of the Manipur Municipalities
Act, 1976 (Manipur Act 26 of 1976 ) on or before the 12th day of October, 1993 shall be deemed to have
been validly appointed under that Act and the term of such administrator shall cease to have effect on the
commencement of this Act.
22. Duration of municipalities, etc.—(1) Every municipality, unless sooner dissolved under this
Act, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting after a general election at
which a quorum is present and no longer:
Provided that a municipality which is functioning immediately before the commencement of this Act
shall continue till the expiration of its duration, unless sooner dissolved by a resolution passed to that
effect by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Manipur.
(2) An election to constitute a municipality shall be completed—
(a) before the expiry of its duration specified in sub-section (1);
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(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 municipality would have
continued is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election under this sub-section for
constituting the municipality for such period:
Provided further that the result of election shall be notified.
(3) A municipality constituted upon the dissolution of a municipality before the expiration of its
duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved municipality would
have continued under sub-section (1) had it not been so dissolved.
23. Every Council to have Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson.—For every Council, there shall
be a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson.
24. Election of Chairperson.—(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, the Councillors at the first
meeting of the Council to be called at the instance of the Deputy Commissioner after a general election
shall elect one of them to be the Chairperson in accordance with rules made in this behalf.
(2) Such election shall take place within twenty-one days from the date of notification of the result
under section 22; and in the case of vacancy in the office of the Chairperson on account of any reason
other than expiry of the term of office of the Chairperson, within twenty-one days from the date of the
occurrence of the vacancy.
(3) The State Government shall appoint a person to preside over the meeting and for the purpose of
the business mentioned in sub-section (1).
25. Election of Vice-Chairperson.—The Councillors shall, either at the meeting mentioned in
sub-section (1) of section 24 or at subsequent meeting elect one among themselves other than the
Chairperson elected under sub-section (1) of section 24 to be the Vice-Chairperson.
26. Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson cease to hold office as such.—When a Councillor who
holds the office of Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson ceases, for any reason whatsoever to be a
Councillor, he shall, at the same time, cease to hold office of the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson, as
the case may be.
27. Filling up of vacancies and term of office of persons filling up the vacancy.—If any
Councillor is by reason of his death, resignation or removal or otherwise, is unable to complete his full
term of office, the vacancy so caused shall be filled up by election or appointment, as the case may be, of
a person under the provisions of this Act and the person so elected or appointed shall hold office for the
unexpired term of his predecessor:
Provided that no election for filling up a casual vacancy shall be held if the vacancy occurs within a
period of six months preceding the date on which the term of office of the Councillor expires.
28. Resignation by Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Councillor.—(1) The Chairperson may
resign his office by writing a letter of resignation addressed to the Vice-Chairperson, who shall forthwith
deliver the letter to the Executive Officer.
(2) The Vice-Chairperson or a Councillor may resign his office by writing a letter of resignation
addressed to the Chairperson, who shall forthwith deliver the letter to the Executive Officer.
(3) The resignation under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall take effect from the date on which it
is accepted by the Government.
(4) The Executive Officer shall forthwith intimate the fact of resignation received under
sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) to the Council and the State Government.
(5) On receipt of the intimation under sub-section (4), the State Government shall notify in the
Official Gazette the fact of the resignation and occurrence of casual vacancy consequent thereon.
29. Removal of Councillors.—(1) The State Government may remove any elected Councillor on the
ground of his misconduct in the discharge of his duties if the removal is recommended by a resolution of
the municipality passed at a special meeting called for the purpose and supported by a majority of the
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total number of Councillors of the municipality and by a majority of not less than two-third of
Councillors present and voting in such a meeting.
(2) The State Government may remove any Councillor—
(a) if he ceases to reside within the municipality continuously for a period of twelve months; or
(b) if he has been declared by the State Government by notification to have violated his oath or
affirmation of allegiance; or
(c) if he becomes disqualified by or under any law for the time being in force for the purposes of
elections to the Manipur Legislative Assembly; or
(d) if he has, within the meaning of section 59 knowingly acquired or continued to hold without
the permission in writing of the State Government, directly or indirectly or as a partner, any share or
interest in any contract or employment with, by or on behalf, of the municipality; or
(e) if he is in arrears of any kind of dues to the municipality for more than six months after a bill
or a notice has been duly served on him:
Provided that no Councillor shall be removed under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) unless he has
been given an opportunity of being heard.
30. Effect of removal of a Councillor.—No Councillor of a Nagar Panchayat or a Council who has
been removed from his office under sub-section (1) or under clause (b), (c), (d) or (e) of sub-section (2) of
section 29 shall be eligible for election or re-election as a Councillor for such period as may be
prescribed.
31. No-confidence motion against Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson.—(1) The State Government
may remove by a notification in the Official Gazette, from office the Chairperson or the
Vice-Chairperson, in pursuance of a resolution passed by a majority of the total number of the
Councillors and supported by not less than two-third of the Councillors present and voting at a meeting
specially convened for the purpose under sub-section (2).
(2) For the purposes of sub-section (1) a meeting of the Nagar Panchayat or of the Council shall be
held in the following manner, namely:—
(i) the meeting shall be convened by the Executive Officer on a requisition signed by not less than
one-fifth of the total number of Councillors constituting the Nagar Panchayat or the Council for the
time being;
(ii) the notice of such a meeting specifying the time and place thereof shall be despatched by the
Executive Officer to every Councillor ten days before the meeting;
(iii) the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson, as the case may be, against whom the resolution
referred to in sub-section (1) is to be moved, shall not preside over the meeting;
(iv) a copy of the notice shall be sent to the State Government.
(3) If the office of the Chairperson becomes vacant all powers and duties of the Chairperson, may,
until the election of a new Chairperson be exercised and performed by the Vice-Chairperson.
(4) The removal of the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson under sub-section (1) shall be effective
from the date of its resolution in this regard.
32. Grant of leave of absence to Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson.—(1) The Nagar Panchayat or
the Council, as the case may be, may, from time to time, grant such leave of absence to the Chairperson or
the Vice-Chairperson as it may deem fit.
(2) If a Chairperson or a Vice-Chairperson remains absent from office owing to illness or any other
cause for a period exceeding three months without the leave of the Nagar Panchayat or the Council, as the
case may be, he shall cease to be Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson, as the case may be, and his office
shall become vacant.
(3) During the absence on leave of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson and in the like event in the
case of a Vice-Chairperson such one of the Councillors as may be elected by them to act as
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Vice-Chairperson, shall discharge the functions of the Chairperson or the Vice-Chairperson, as the case
may be.
(4) The Vice-Chairperson or the Councillor shall, during and in respect of the period in which he is
acting as, or discharging the function of Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson, as the case may be, exercise
the powers conferred and perform the duties imposed on a Chairperson or a Vice-Chairperson by or under
this Act or by any other law for the time being in force.
33. Powers and functions of the Chairperson.—It shall be the function of the Chairperson—
(a) to preside, unless prevented by reasonable cause, over all meetings of the Nagar Panchayat or
the Council, as the case may be, and subject to the provisions of the bye-laws for the time being in
force, to regulate the conduct of business at such meetings;
(b) to watch over the financial and executive administration of the Nagar Panchayat or the
Council, as the case may be, and perform such executive functions as may be allotted to him by or
under this Act and rules or bye-laws framed thereunder;
(c) to exercise supervisory and executive control over acts and duties of all officers and
employees of the Nagar Panchayat or the Council, as the case may be, in matters respecting their
executive functions and the accounts and records of the Nagar Panchayat or the Council, as the case
may be;
(d) to direct, in case of emergency, the execution or stoppage of any work or doing of any act
which requires the sanction of the Nagar Panchayat or the Council, as the case may be, and the
immediate execution or doing of which is, in his opinion necessary for the service or safety of the
public, and the expenses incurred in the execution of such work or doing of such act shall be paid
from Municipal Fund:
Provided that—
(a) he shall not act under clause (d) in contravention of any order of the Nagar Panchayat or the
Council, as the case may be, prohibiting the execution of any particular work or the doing of any
particular act; and
(b) he shall report forthwith the action taken under clause (d) and the reasons therefor to the
Nagar Panchayat or the Council, as the case may be, at its next meeting.
34. Function of Vice-Chairperson.—It shall be the function of the Vice-Chairperson—
(a) in the absence of the Chairperson and unless prevented by reasonable cause, to preside over
the meetings of the Nagar Panchayat or the Council, as the case may be, and he shall, when so
presiding, exercise the same authority as is vested in the Chairperson under clause (a) of section 33;
(b) pending the election of a Chairperson, or during the absence of the Chairperson to exercise the
powers and perform the duties of the Chairperson.
35. Remuneration of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson.—The Chairperson, the
Vice-Chairperson or any other Councillor of a Council may be granted by the Council such remuneration
or such allowance as may be prescribed:
Provided that the expenditure to be incurred under this section shall without prejudice to the
provisions of section 71, be paid out of the Municipal Fund.
36. Powers, authority and responsibilities of municipalities.—(1) The State Government as and
when it considers expedient may, by notification, entrust—
(a) the municipalities with the function of—
(i) the preparation of plans for economic development and social justice;
(ii) the performance of functions and the implementation of schemes as may be entrusted to
including those in relation to the matters listed in the Schedule;
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(b) the Committees with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to carry
out the responsibilities conferred upon them including those in relation to the matters listed in the
Schedule.
(2) On entrustment of functions under sub-section (1), the Government shall allot to the municipality
such fund and personnel as may be necessary to enable the municipality to discharge the functions and
duties so entrusted.
37. Obligatory functions of the municipality.—It shall be the duty of every municipality to make
reasonable provision for the following matters within the municipality under its jurisdiction, namely:—
(a) lighting public roads and places;
(b) watering public roads and places;
(c) cleaning public roads, places and sewers and all spaces not being private property, which are
open to the enjoyment of the public whether such spaces are vested in the municipality or not,
removing noxious vegetation and abating all public nuisance;
(d) removing filth, rubbish, night-soil, odour or any other noxious or offensive matter from
privies, latrines, urinals, cess-pools or other common receptacles or such matter in or pertaining to a
building or buildings;
(e) extinguishing fires and protecting life and property when fire occurs;
(f) regulating offensive or dangerous trades or practices;
(g) removing obstructions and projections in public roads or places and in spaces not being
private property, which are open to the enjoyment of the public whether such spaces are vested in the
municipality or belong to the State Government;
(h) securing or removing dangerous buildings or places and reclaiming unhealthy localities;
(i) acquiring, maintaining, changing and regulating places for the disposal of dead bodies and of
the carcasses of dead animals;
(j) constructing, altering and maintaining public roads, culverts, municipal boundary marks,
markets, slaughter-houses, drains, sewers, drainage-works, sewerage-works, baths, washing-places,
drinking-fountains, tanks, wells, dams and the like;
(k) constructing public latrines, privies and urinals;
(l) obtaining a supply or an additional supply of water, proper and sufficient for preventing
danger to the health of inhabitants from the insufficiency or unwholesomeness of the existing supply;
(m) naming streets and numbering houses;
(n) registering births and deaths;
(o) suitable accommodation for any calves, cows or buffaloes required within the municipality for
the supply of animal lymph;
(p) printing such annual reports on the administration of the municipality as may be necessary or
as the State Government may by general or special orders require the municipality to print;
(q) making arrangements for preparation of compost manure from night-soil and rubbish; and
(r) establishing and maintaining cattle ponds.
38. Special duties of municipalities.—Subject to such reasonable provisions as may be made under
section 37 every municipality shall make reasonable provision for the following special matters,
namely:—
(a) providing special medical aid and accommodation for the sick in times of a dangerous disease
and taking such measures as may be required to prevent the outbreak or suppress and prevent the
recurrence of the disease; and
(b) giving relief and establishing and maintaining relief works, in times of famine or scarcity, to
or for destitute persons within the limits of the municipality.
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39. Discretionary functions of municipality.—A municipality may, at its discretion, provide out of
the municipal property and fund, either wholly or partly, for—
(a) laying out, whether in areas previously built upon or not, new public roads and acquiring land
for the purpose, including land acquired for the construction of buildings for curtilages thereof, to
about on such roads;
(b) constructing, establishing, maintaining, or contributing to the maintenance of public parks,
gardens, libraries, museums, reading rooms, halls, offices, dharmashalas, rest-houses, encamping
grounds and other public buildings and places;
(c) constructions and maintaining, where necessary suitable sanitary houses for the habitation of
the poor and granting loans for the construction of such houses or for effecting necessary
improvements connected therewith;
(d) providing accommodation for any class of servants employed by the municipality or granting
loans to such servants for construction of houses subject to the rules made in this behalf;
(e) planting and maintaining trees in the roadside;
(f) securing or assisting to secure suitable places for the carrying on the offensive trades
mentioned in section 167;
(g) supplying, constructing and maintaining receptacles, fitting pipes, and other appliances
whatsoever on or for the use of private premises, for receiving and conducting the sewage thereof into
sewers under the control of the municipality;
(h) the public health and infant welfare;
(i) contribution towards any public fund raised for the relief of human suffering within or without
the municipality;
(j) any public reception, ceremony, entertainment, or exhibition within the municipality by a
resolution passed at a general meeting and supported by one-half of the total number of Councillors;
(k) the organisation or maintenance of shops or stall for the sale of necessities of life;
(l) holding fairs and exhibitions;
(m) supply of milk;
(n) establishing labour welfare centres for its employees and subsidizing the activities of any
association, union or club of such employees by grant of loan for its general advancement;
(o) maintenance of ambulance service;
(p) establishing and maintaining public hospitals and dispensaries and providing public medical
service;
(q) providing facilities for antifrabic treatment and meeting the expenses of indigent person
undergoing antifrabic treatment within or outside the municipal limits;
(r) housing and maintaining destitute, orphans and cripples and maintaining maternity centre and
child welfare clinics;
(s) establishing rescue homes;
(t) any other matter which is likely to promote education or the public health safety or
convenience or the advancement of economic condition of the inhabitants of the municipality or
which is necessary for the purposes of this Act.
40. Management of public institution by municipality to vest in it.—The management, control and
administration of every public institution exclusively maintained out of the municipal property and fund
shall vest in the municipality by which it is so maintained.