Special provision for the District of Darjeeling under WB Panchayat Act

[CHAPTER XVIIA]
Special provision for the District of Darjeeling

185A. Zilla Parishad for Darjeeling to stand dissolved and consequences of dissolution. – (1) With effect from the date of coming into office of the Council, the Zilla Parishad for the district of Darjeeling constituted under this Act shall stand dissolved and the members of the Zilla Parishadshall be deemed to have vacated their offices forthwith.
(2) Upon such dissolution of the Zilla Parishad, the Council shall exercise all the powers, discharge all the duties and perform all the functions of theZilla Parishad under this Act.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) of this section or elsewhere in this Act, –
(a) anything done or any action taken by the Zilla Parishad under this Act prior to the coming into office of the Council, and
(b) all rules, orders, bye-laws and notifications made or issued from time to time under the provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1957, or the West Bengal Zilla Parishads Act, 1963, or this Act, applicable to the Zilla Parishad,
and continuing in force immediately before the coming into office of the Council, shall, after such coming into office, continue in force in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Act, 1988 until they are repealed or amended.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 29 of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Act, 1988, the properties, funds and liabilities of the Zilla Parishad and the officers and employees of the Zilla Parishad holding office immediately before the coming into office of the Council, shall be determined and apportioned between the Council and the Mahakuma Parishad in such manner as may be prescribed, and such determination and apportionment shall be final.
(5) An order made under sub-section (4) may contain such supplementary, incidental and consequential provisions as may be necessary to give effect to such reorganisation.
[(6) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, –
(a) no executive power referred to in section 24 of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council Act, 1988, shall be exercised by a Gram Panchayat orPanchayat Samiti in the hill areas unless the Council assigns such power to such Gram Panchayat or Panchayat Samiti, as the case may be, on such terms and conditions as the Council may, by general or special direction, specify, and
(b) the State Government shall not assign any power, function or duty in relation to any matter referred to in section 207B or in any other provision of this Act to any Gram Panchayat or Panchayat Samiti in the hill areas without prior consultation with the Council and, on transfer of such power, function or duty, the Council shall have power and authority to issue any direction and adopt any measure for supervision and monitoring with respect to the exercise of such power, performance of such function and discharge of such duty by the Gram Panchayat or the Panchayat Samiti, as the case may be.]

185B. Mahakuma Parishad. – (1) For the sub-division of Siliguri in the district of Darjeeling the State Government shall constitute a Mahakuma Parishad bearing the name Of the sub-division.
(2) The Mahakuma Parishad shall comprise the areas of the Blocks within the sub-division excluding such mouzas of the sub-division as are comprised in the hill areas.
(3) The Mahakuma Parishad shall consist of the following members, namely:-
(i) Sabhapatis of the Panchayat Samitis within the sub-division, ex officio;
(ii) [such number of persons, not exceeding three, as may be proscribed on the basis of the number of voters in each Block within the sub-division, the Block being divided [(by the prescribed authority)] for the purpose into constituencies in the prescribed manner,] elected by secret ballot, at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed, [from amongst the persons, whose names are included in the electoral roll [(prepared in accordance with such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf and in force on such date as the State Election Commissioner may declare for the purpose of an election,)] pertaining to any Block within the area of the Mahakuma Parishad, by persons whose names are included in such electoral roll pertaining to the constituency comprised in such Block :]
[Provided that seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in a Mahakuma Parishad area and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be and in the manner and in accordance with such rules as may be made in this behalf by the State Government, the same proportion to the total number of seats in that Mahakuma Parishad to be filled up by election as the population of the Scheduled Castes in that Mahakuma Parishad area or of the Scheduled Tribes in that Mahakuma Praishad area, as the case may be, bears to the total population of that Mahakuma Parishad area and such seats shall be subjected to allocation by rotation, in the manner prescribed to such different constituencies having Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribe population which bears with the total population in that constituency not less than half of the proportion that the total Scheduled Castes population or the Scheduled Tribes population in that Mahakuma Parishad area, as the case may be, bears with the total population in the Mahakuma Parishad area]:
[Provided further that not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes, as the case may be]:
[Provided also that not less than one-third of the total number of seats, including the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribe, in the Mahakuma Parishad shall be reserved for women, and the constituencies for the seats so reserved for women shall be determined by rotation, in such manner as may be prescribed]:
[Provided also that notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this sub-section [* * * * * * * * *] when the number of member to be elected to the Mahakuma Parishad is determined, or when seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in theMahakuma Parishad, in the manner as aforesaid, the number of members so determined or the number of seats so reserved shall not be varied for three successive general elections:]
[Provided also that no member of the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes and no women for whom seats are reserved under this sub-section, shall, if eligible for election to the Mahakuma Parishad, be disqualified for election to any seat not so reserved]:
[Provided also that such division into constituencies shall be made in such manner that the ratio between the population of all the Blocks in theMahakuma Parishad and the number of constituencies in the Mahakuma Parishad shall, so far as practicable, be the same as in any Zilla Parishad]:
[Provided also that the State Election Commissioner may, at any time, for reasons to be recorded in writing [issue an order making fresh determination] of the number of members in the Mahakuma Parishad or fresh reservation on rotation of the number of constituencies in theMahakuma Parishad and, on such order being issued by the State Election Commissioner, the determination of the number of members and the reservation of the number of constituencies shall not be varied for [the next] three successive general elections:]
[Provided also that the provisions for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall cease to have effect on the expiry of the period specified in article 334 of the Constitution of India];
(iii) members of the House of the People and the Legislative Assembly of the State elected thereto from a constituency comprising the sub-division or any part thereof (excluding the part comprised in the hill areas), not being Ministers;
(iv) members of the Council of States, not being Ministers, [registered as electors within the area of any Block] in the sub-division (excluding the place comprised in the hill areas).
(4) The Mahakuma Parishad constituted under this section shall be notified in the Official Gazette and shall come into office with effect from the date of its first meeting at which a quorum is present.
(5) The Mahakuma Parishad shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal and shall by its corporate name sue and be sued.
(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, –
(a) anything done or any action taken by the Zilla Parishad under this Act prior to the Zilla Parishad under this Act prior to the coming into office of the Mahakuma Parishad, and
(b) all rules, orders, bye-laws and notifications made or issued from time to time under the provisions of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1957, or the West Bengal Zilla Parishads Act, 1963, or this Act, applicable to the Zilla Parishad, and continuing in force immediately before the coming into office of the Mahakuma Parishad under this Act, shall, after such coming into office, be applicable to the Mahakuma Parishadand shall continue in force in so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act until they are repealed or amended.
(7) (a) The Mahakuma Parishad shall have a Sthayee Samiti, namely, Artha, Sanstha, Unnayan O Parikalpana Sthayee Samiti.
(b) The Mahakuma Parishad may have such other Sthayee Samiti or Samitis as it may, subject to the approval of the State Government, constitute.
(c) A Sthayee Samiti shall consist of the following members:-
(i) the Sabhadhipati,[Sahakari Sabhadhipati], ex officio;
(ii) three persons to be elected in the prescribed manner by the members of the Mahakuma Parishad from among themselves;
[(iii) such number of persons, being officers of the State Government or of any statutory body or corporation or being eminent persons having specialised knowledge, as the State Government may think fit, appointed by the State Government :]
Provided that such officers shall not be eligible for election as Karmadhyaksha of the Sthayee Samiti and shall not have any right to vote.
(d) No person, other than the Sabhadhipati or the Sahakari Sabhadhipati, shall be a member of more than two Sthayee Samitis.
(e) All the provisions of sub-sections (4) to (7) of section 171 and sections 172 to 174 shall apply mutatis mutandis to a Sthayee Samiticonstituted under this section.

(8) All the provisions of sections 141 to 152, 153 to 165, 166 to 170, 175 to 185, 186 to 196, 196A, 196B, 197, 197A, 197B, 198 to 202, 202A, 203 to 216, 220 to 221 and 223 shall apply to the Mahakuma Parishad mutatis mutandis.