PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PUNJAB

[1]THE PUNJAB LOCAL GOVERNMENT (AMENDMENT) ACT 2005

(Pb. Act X of 2005)

[9 July 2005]

An Act further to amend the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001.

Whereas it is expedient further to amend the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001 (XIII of 2001), for the purposes hereinafter appearing;

It is hereby enacted as follows:-

1. Short title and commencement.– (1) This Act may be called the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Act 2005.

(2) It shall come into force at once.

2. Amendment of section 1 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the Punjab Local Government Ordinance, 2001 (Ordinance XIII of 2001), hereinafter referred to as the said Ordinance, in section 1, in sub-section (2),–

(a) after brackets, letters, word, figure and comma “(II of 1924),” the words, commas, figures, brackets and letters “or the Cantonments Ordinance, 2002 (CXXXVIII of 2002),” shall be inserted; and

(b) for the words “under the said Act”, the word “thereunder” shall be substituted.

3. Amendment of section 2 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 2,–

(a) clause (xii) shall be omitted;

(b) after clause (xx), the following new clause shall be inserted, namely:-

“(xx-a) ‘misconduct’ means transgression of prescribed Code of Conduct or dereliction from duty or deliberate unlawful behaviour or violation of law or rules or lawful directions or orders of Government and includes–

(a) gross negligence in performance of duties with manifest wrongful intent or evil design; or

(b) an act that results in wrongful gain to any person by wrongful application of law; or

(c) making or managing appointment, promotion or transfer of an officer or official in violation of law or rules or for extraneous consideration;”; and

(c) in clause (xli), for the words, comma, figures, brackets and letters “Industrial Relations Ordinance, 1969 (XXIII of 1969)” the words, comma, figures, brackets and letters “Industrial Relations Ordinance, 2002 (XCI of 2002)” shall be substituted.

4. Amendment of section 8 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 8, the existing provision shall be re-numbered as sub-section (1) of that section and thereafter the following new sub-section shall be added, namely:-

“(2) For the purpose of creation of a city district, the Unions in the district affected by such creation may be delimited in accordance with section 6:

Provided that in all other districts section 11 of this Ordinance shall apply.”.

5. Amendment of section 12 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 12, in sub-section (3), after the words “Union Administration”, the words “and the functions of Tehsil Council shall be performed by the Union Council” shall be added.

6. Amendment of section 14 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 14, after sub-section (3), the following new sub-section shall be added, namely:-

“(4) The Zila Nazim shall nominate a Deputy District Officer at Tehsil level for the purpose of liaison between the offices of District Government, Provincial Government, Federal Government and other local governments for emergencies, natural calamities and extraordinary situations.”.

7. Amendment of section 18 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 18, in sub-section (1), in clause (p), the word “to” shall be omitted.

8. Amendment of section 22 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 22, in sub-section (1),–

(a) the words “or suspension” shall be omitted;

(b) for the word “appointed”, the word “elected” shall be substituted; and

“Provided that where the Naib Zila Nazim is absent or his office is vacant for any reason, the senior-most presiding officer in the panel elected under sub-section (5) of section 42 shall act as Zila Nazim and the next senior-most presiding officer in the panel shall act as Naib Zila Nazim till the election of officiating Zila Nazim under section 48 or Naib Zila Nazim resumes his functions or, as the case may be, a new Naib Zila Nazim is elected by the Zila Council under section 156:

Provided further that the officiating Zila Nazim shall not be a candidate in the election for Zila Nazim.”.

9. Omission of section 23 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, section 23 shall be omitted.

10. Amendment of section 24 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 24,–

(a) in the marginal note, for the words “Internal recall”, the word “Recall” shall be substituted;

(b) for sub-section (4), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(4) Where the motion referred to in sub-section (1) is approved by two-third majority of the votes of the total membership of the Council, through a secret ballot to be conducted by the Returning Officer nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, the Zila Nazim shall cease to hold office forthwith and the notification shall be issued in this behalf by the Chief Election Commissioner accordingly.”;

(d) in sub-section (6), for the words “Union Nazims and members of Zila Council”, the words and comma “members of the Zila Council and Union Nazim, if any one of them is also a Union Nazim” shall be substituted;

(e) in sub-section (7), for the brackets and figure “(5)”, the brackets and figure “(1)” shall be substituted;

(f) in sub-section (8), for the colon at the end, a full-stop shall be substituted and thereafter the proviso shall be omitted; and

(g) after sub-section (8), amended as aforesaid, the Explanation shall be omitted.

11. Substitution of section 25 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, for section 25, the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“25. Setting aside the order of Zila Nazim by the Chief Executive of the Province.– (1) Where, in the opinion of the Chief Executive of the Province, an order or decision of the Zila Nazim is not in conformity with law or is against the interest of the people, he may, for the reasons to be recorded and conveyed to the Nazim, suspend such order or, as the case may be, decision and refer the matter to the Provincial Local Government Commission for an enquiry to be completed not later than ninety days:

Provided that the Zila Nazim shall be given an opportunity of being heard by the Provincial Local Government Commission before making recommendation to the Chief Executive of the Province.

(2) On receipt of report of enquiry conducted by the Provincial Local Government Commission, the Chief Executive of the Province may take such action as deemed expedient in the light of such report, including quashment of the order or decision of the Zila Nazim:

Provided that, if no action is taken within ninety days of suspension of the order or decision of the Zila Nazim, such order or, as the case may be, decision shall stand restored.

(3) The quashment of an order or decision referred to in sub-section (2) shall be notified by the Government in the official Gazette.”.

12. Amendment of section 28 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 28,–

(a) after the marginal note, full stop and hyphen, the brackets and figure “(1)” shall be inserted; and

(b) in sub-section (2), for clause (f), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(f) call for information and reports from local governments in the district as required by the Provincial Government or District Government through the Tehsil Municipal Officer;”.

13. Amendment of section 30 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 30,–

(a) in sub-section (2),–

(i) for the word “all”, the word “such” shall be substituted; and

(ii) after the word “Schedule”, the words “as may be prescribed” shall be added;

(b) in sub-section (4),–

(i) for the word “shall”, the word “may” shall be substituted; and

(ii) the words “within seven days and the Government may refer the matter to the Provincial Local Government Commission” shall be omitted; and

14. Insertion of new sections 30A and 30B in Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, after section 30, the following new sections shall be inserted, namely:-

“30A. Disciplinary powers of Nazims and Naib Nazims.– The Nazims and Naib Nazims shall be empowered to take disciplinary action against local government functionaries of their respective establishments and shall be responsible to the Government for effective implementation of all efficiency and disciplinary rules as prescribed not later than the 31^st December, 2005.

30B. District Officer (Revenue) to act as Collector.– The District Officer (Revenue) shall act and perform the functions of Collector under the provisions of sections 54, 68, 70(2), 71, 72, 92, 93, rule 18 of Order XXI, Order XL and similar other provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908).”.

15. Amendment of section 34 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 34, clause (b) shall be omitted.

16. Amendment of section 38 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 38, after the word “allocation”, the words “with its Secretary as Drawing and Disbursing Officer and Naib Zila Nazim as the Principal Accounting Officer” shall be added.

17. Amendment of section 39 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 39,–

(a) in clause (o), for the brackets and figure “(11)” the brackets and figure “(8)” shall be substituted; and

(b) in clause (q), for the second proviso, the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“Provided further that the Government shall accord approval within sixty days of receipt of proposals from a Zila Council failing which it shall be deemed to have been approved.”.

18. Amendment of section 40 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 40, in clause (d), the words “beaches and sea sides” shall be omitted.

19. Amendment of section 42 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 42,–

(a) in sub-section (3), for the full-stop at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be added, namely:-

“Provided that the member presiding the meeting shall not vote except in the case of equality of votes.”;

(b) for sub-section (4), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(4) In the first meeting of the Council to be convened and presided over by the Returning Officer nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, the members of the Zila Council shall elect from amongst themselves a Naib Zila Nazim securing majority votes of total membership of the Council through a secret ballot.

(4A) The Naib Zila Nazim elected under sub-section (4), shall be the Convener of the Zila Council and shall preside its meetings and shall perform such other functions as are assigned to him by the Zila Nazim.”; and

“(5) After the election of Naib Zila Nazim, the Zila Council shall, in order of precedence, elect a panel of not less than three members as presiding officers securing highest number of votes who shall, in the absence of, or in case of the suspension of, Naib Zila Nazim, or where a no confidence motion has been moved against him, convene and preside over the meetings of the Zila Council.”.

20. Substitution of section 45 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, for section 45, the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“45. Setting aside the resolution of Zila Council by the Chief Executive of the Province.– (1) Where, in the opinion of the Chief Executive of the Province, a resolution of Zila Council is not in conformity with law or is against the interest of the people, he may, for the reasons to be recorded and conveyed to the Council, suspend such resolution and refer the matter to the Provincial Local Government Commission for an enquiry to be completed not later than ninety days.

(2) On receipt of report of the enquiry conducted by the Provincial Local Government Commission, the Chief Executive of the Province may take such action as deemed expedient in the light of such report, including quashment of the resolution of the Zila Council:

Provided that if no action is taken within ninety days of suspension of the resolution of the Zila Council, such resolution shall stand restored.

(3) The quashment of the resolution referred to in sub-section (2), shall be notified by the Government in the official Gazette.”.

21. Amendment of section 47 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 47,–

(a) in the marginal note, for the words “Recall of a”, the words “No confidence motion against” shall be substituted;

(b) in sub-section (1),–

(i) after the words “other reason”, the words “he has lost confidence of the Council” shall be added; and

(ii) for the word “recall”, the word “removal” shall be substituted;

“(4) Where the motion referred to in sub-section (1) is approved by majority votes of the total membership of the Council, through a secret ballot, the Naib Zila Nazim shall cease to hold office forthwith and the notification shall be issued in this behalf by the Chief Election Commissioner accordingly.”;

(d) for sub-section (5), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(5) Where the Naib Zila Nazim is removed under sub-section (4), the Council shall elect a new Naib Zila Nazim within a period not later than ten days in the manner specified in sub-section (4) of section 42.”;

(e) in sub-section (6), for the words “Union Nazims and members of Zila Council”, the words and comma “members of the Zila Council and Union Nazim, if any one of them is also a Union Nazim” shall be substituted; and

(f) in sub-section (7), for the words “appear before the Zila Council and address it”, the words “address the Zila Council” shall be substituted.

22. Amendment of section 48 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 48,–

(a) the brackets and figure “(1)” shall be omitted; and

(b) for the first proviso, the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“Provided that, where the Naib Zila Nazim fails to convene the meeting for election of officiating Zila Nazim from amongst the members of the Council within ten days, the Naib Zila Nazim shall be liable to misconduct, and the senior-most presiding officer shall convene the meeting of the Council for such purpose.”.

23. Amendment of section 50 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 50,–

(a) in sub-section (1), the brackets and figure “(1)” shall be omitted; and

(b) for the word “Tehsil”, the word “Town” shall be substituted.

24. Insertion of new section 58B in Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, after section 58A, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-

“58B. Performance evaluation of officers of tehsil.– The annual performance report of the officers posted in the Tehsil Municipal Administration shall be initiated by–

(a) the Tehsil Nazim in respect of Tehsil Municipal Officer and the Zila Nazim shall be the first countersigning officer, while the Secretary, Local Government Department shall be the second countersigning officer:

Provided that the District Coordination Officer shall record in a separate part of the Performance Evaluation Report his evaluation about the Tehsil Municipal Officer’s ability to collect and compile information; and

(b) the Tehsil Municipal Officer in respect of Tehsil Officers:

Provided that the Tehsil Nazim shall be the countersigning officer.”.

25. Amendment of section 61 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 61, in sub-section (1), for the proviso the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“Provided that where the Naib Tehsil Nazim is absent or his office is vacant for any reason, the senior-most presiding officer in the panel elected under sub-section (5) of section 69 shall act as Tehsil Nazim and the next senior-most presiding officer in the panel shall act as Naib Tehsil Nazim till the election of officiating Tehsil Nazim under section 68 or Naib Tehsil Nazim resumes his functions or, as the case may be, a new Naib Tehsil Nazim is elected by the Tehsil Council under section 156:

Provided further that the officiating Tehsil Nazim shall not be a candidate in the election for Tehsil Nazim.”.

26. Omission of section 62 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, section 62 shall be omitted.

27. Amendment of section 63 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 63,–

(a) in the marginal note, for the words “Internal recall”, the word “Recall” shall be substituted;

(b) for sub-section (4), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(4) Where the motion referred to in sub-section (1) is approved by two-third majority of the votes of the total membership of the Council, through a secret ballot to be conducted by the Returning Officer nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, the Tehsil Nazim shall cease to hold office forthwith and the notification shall be issued in this behalf by the Chief Election Commissioner accordingly.”;

(d) in sub-section (6), for the words “Union Nazims and members of Tehsil Council”, the words and comma “members of the Tehsil Council and Naib Union Nazim, if any one of them is also a Naib Union Nazim” shall be substituted; and

(e) in sub-section (8), for the colon at the end, a full-stop shall be substituted and thereafter the proviso shall be omitted.

28. Insertion of new section 64A in Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, after section 64, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-

“64A. Setting aside the order of Tehsil Nazim by the Chief Executive of the Province.– (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 64, where, in the opinion of the Chief Executive of the Province, an order or decision of the Tehsil Nazim is not in conformity with law or is against the interest of the people, he may, for the reasons to be recorded and conveyed to the Nazim, suspend such order or, as the case may be, decision and refer the matter to the Provincial Local Government Commission for an enquiry to be completed not later than ninety days:

Provided that the Tehsil Nazim shall be given an opportunity of being heard by the Provincial Local Government Commission before making recommendation to the Chief Executive of the Province.

Provided that if no action is taken within ninety days of the suspension of the order or decision of the Tehsil Nazim, such order or, as the case may be, decision shall stand restored.

(3) The quashment of an order or decision referred to in sub-section (2) shall be notified by the Government in the official Gazette.”.

29. Amendment of section 65 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 65, in sub-section (4), after the word “allocations”, the words “with its Secretary as Drawing and Disbursing Officer and Naib Tehsil Nazim as Principal Accounting Officer” shall be added.

30. Amendment of section 68 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, the existing provision shall be renumbered as sub-section (1) of that section and thereafter the following new sub-section shall be added, namely:-

“(2) Where the Naib Tehsil Nazim fails to convene the meeting for election of officiating Tehsil Nazim from amongst the members of the Council within ten days, the Naib Tehsil Nazim shall be liable to misconduct, and the senior-most presiding officer shall convene the meeting of the Council for such purpose.”.

31. Amendment of section 69 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 69,–

(a) in sub-section (3), for the full-stop at the end, a colon shall be substituted and thereafter the following proviso shall be added, namely:-

“Provided that the member presiding the meeting shall not vote except in the case of equality of votes.”;

(b) for sub-section (4), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(4) In the first meeting of the Council to be convened and presided over by the Returning Officer nominated by the Chief Election Commissioner, the members of the Tehsil Council shall elect from amongst themselves a Naib Tehsil Nazim securing majority votes of total membership of the Council through a secret ballot.

(4A) The Naib Tehsil Nazim elected under sub-section (4) shall be the Convener of the Tehsil Council and shall preside its meetings and shall perform such other functions as are assigned to him by the Tehsil Nazim.”; and

“(5) After the election of Naib Tehsil Nazim, the Tehsil Council shall, in order of precedence, elect a panel of not less than three members as presiding officers securing highest number of votes who shall, in the absence of, or in case of the suspension of, Naib Tehsil Nazim, or where a no confidence motion has been moved against him, convene and preside over the meetings of the Tehsil Council.”.

32. Insertion of new sections 70A and 70B in Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, after section 70, the following new sections shall be inserted, namely:-

“70A. Setting aside the resolution of Tehsil Council.– (1) On a motion initiated by the District Government, the Zila Council may, by a resolution stating the grounds thereof, passed by a simple majority of its total membership, set aside a resolution of the Tehsil Council, if it considers the same to be against the interest of the people or public policy.

(2) The result of the approval of the resolution of the Zila Council, referred to in sub-section (1), shall be notified by the Zila Council.

70B. Setting aside the resolution of Tehsil Council by the Chief Executive of the Province.– (1) Where, in the opinion of the Chief Executive of the Province, a resolution of Tehsil Council is not in conformity with law or is against the interest of the people, he may, for the reasons to be recorded and conveyed to the Tehsil Council, suspend such resolution and refer the matter to the Provincial Local Government Commission for an enquiry to be completed not later than ninety days.

Provided that if no action is taken within ninety days of suspension of the resolution of the Tehsil Council, such resolution shall stand restored.

(3) The quashment of the resolution referred to in sub-section (2), shall be notified by the Government in the official Gazette.”.

33. Amendment of section 72 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 72,–

(a) in the marginal note, for the words “Recall of a”, the words “No confidence motion against” shall be substituted;

(b) in sub-section (1),–

(i) after the words “other reason”, the words “he has lost confidence of the Council” shall be added; and

(ii) for the word “recall” the word “removal” shall be substituted;

“(4) Where the motion referred to in sub-section (1) is approved by majority votes of the total membership of the Council, through a secret ballot, the Naib Tehsil Nazim shall cease to hold office forthwith and the notification shall be issued in this behalf by the Chief Election Commissioner.”;

(d) for sub-section (5), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(5) Where the Naib Tehsil Nazim is removed under sub-section (4), the Council shall elect a new Naib Tehsil Nazim within a period not later than ten days in the manner specified in sub-section (4) of section 69.”;

(e) in sub-section (6), for the words “Naib Union Nazims of respective Union Councils and as members of Tehsil Council”, the words and comma “members of the Tehsil Council and Naib Union Nazim, if any one of them is also a Naib Union Nazim” shall be substituted; and

(f) in sub-section (7), for the words “appear before the Tehsil Council and address it”, the words “address the Tehsil Council” shall be substituted.

34. Amendment of section 80 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 80, in clause (e), after the words “Union Administration”, the words “and shall record the annual Performance Evaluation Report of Union Secretaries and such report shall be countersigned by the Tehsil Municipal Officer” shall be inserted.

35. Insertion of new section 82A in Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, after section 82, the following new section shall be inserted, namely:-

“82A. Setting aside the order of Union Nazim by the Chief Executive of the Province.– (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 82, where, in the opinion of the Chief Executive of the Province, an order or decision of the Union Nazim is not in conformity with law or is against the interest of the people, he may, for the reasons to be recorded and conveyed to the Nazim, suspend such order or, as the case may be, decision and refer the matter to the Provincial Local Government Commission for an enquiry to be completed not later than ninety days:

Provided that the Union Nazim shall be given an opportunity of being heard by the Provincial Local Government Commission before making recommendation to the Chief Executive of the Province.

Provided that if no action is taken within ninety days of the suspension of the order or decision of the Union Nazim, such order or, as the case may be, decision shall stand restored.

(3) The quashment of an order or decision, referred to in sub-section (2), shall be notified by the Government in the official Gazette.”.

36. Omission of section 84 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, section 84 shall be omitted.

37. Amendment of section 85 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 85,–

(a) in the marginal note, for the words “Internal recall”, the word “Recall” shall be substituted;

(b) for sub-section (4), the following shall be substituted, namely:-

“(4) Where the motion referred to in sub-section (1) is approved by two-third majority of the votes of the total membership of the Union Council to be conducted by the Chief Election Commissioner, through a secret ballot, the Union Nazim shall cease to hold office forthwith and the notification shall be issued in this behalf by the Chief Election Commissioner.”;

(d) in sub-section (7), for the words “appear before the Union Council and address it”, the words “address the Union Council” shall be substituted.

38. Amendment of section 87 of Ordinance XIII of 2001.– In the said Ordinance, in section 87, in sub-section (1),–

(a) for the word “twenty-one”, the word “thirteen” shall be substituted;

(b) in clause (a),–

(i) for the word “twelve”, the word