RULES FOR PROCEEDINGS OF GRAM PANCHAYATS AND COMMITTEES THEREOF

RULES RELATING TO THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GRAM PANCHAYATS
AND THE COMMITTEES THEREOF

(G.O. Ms. N0.227, P.R., R.D. & Relief (Pts - II) dated. 13.4.1995)

In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 268 read with subsection (l) of Section 41 and Section 42 of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 (Act No. 13 of 1994), the Governor of Andhra Pradesh hereby makes the following rules relating to the proceedings of the Gram Panchayats and the committees thereof:

PART -1

RULES REGARDING PROCEEDINGS OF GRAM PANCHAYATS
AND COMMITTEES THEREOF

1.  Every Gram Panchayat shall provide an office in such a place and subject to such conditions as may be specified in Annexure appended to these rules and as may be specified by the Government by a general or special order.

2. Every Gram Panchayat shall meet at least once in every month in its office for the transaction of business upon such days and at such times as it may arrange and also at other times as often as a meeting shall be called by the Sarpanch.

3. 

1. No meeting of the Gram Panchayat shall be held unless notice of the day and time when and the place where the meeting to be held and of the business to be transacted thereat has been given at least three clear days before the day of the meeting.
2. In cases of urgency, the Sarpanch may convene a meeting on giving shorter notice than that specified in sub-rule (1).

4. 

1. The Sarpanch of a Gram Panchayat shall, on the requisition in writing of not less than one third of the members then on the Gram Panchayat, convene a meeting of the Gram panchayat, provided that requisition specifies the period within which and the purpose for which the meeting is to be held. The requisition shall be delivered at the Office of the Gram Panchayat during Office hours to the Sarpanch, Executive Officer or any other person who may then be incharge of the office, at least ten clear days before the day of the meeting.
2. If the Sarpanch fails within five days from the delivery of such requisition to call a meeting on any day within the period specified in the requisition for the consideration of the purpose mentioned therein a meeting may be called on any suitable day within the period aforesaid by the members who signed the requisition on giving the notice provided for in sub-rule (1) of rule 3 to the other members of the Gram Panchayat.
3. No meeting under sub-rule (l) or sub-rule (2) shall bc convened at any place other than the place where the office of the Gram Panchayat is situated.

5. All the meetings of the Gram Panchayat shall be open to the public, provided that presiding member may, in any particular case, direct that the public generally or any particular person shall withdraw.

6. Every question which comes before a Gram Panchayat at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of the members present and voting at the meeting and in case of equality of votes, the presiding member shall have and exercise a second or casting vote. When a resolution is not carried unanimously, the names of the members who vote for and against it be recorded.

7. No business shall be transacted at a meeting of any Gram Panchayat unless there resent at least one third of number of members then on the Gram Panchayat.

8. If within half an hour after the time appointed for a meeting quorum is not present, meeting shall stand adjourned, unless all the members present agree to wait longer.

9.  An attendance register shall be maintained in which the presiding member shall obtain the signature of all the members present at the meeting noting time of arrival and departure.

10. No resolution of a Gram Panchayat should be modified or cancelled within three months after the passing thereof except at a meeting specially convened in that behalf and by resolution of the Gram Panchayat supported by not less than one half of the total strength of members.

11. Minutes of the proceedings at every meeting of a Gram Panchayat shall be drawn n the chief language of the village and entered in a book to be kept for that purpose and shall be signed by the presiding member, and the said minutes shall be read and recorded at the next meeting and at all reasonable times without charge be open at the office of the Gram Panchayat to the inspection of any person who pays any tax under this Act.

12. The executive authority of a Gram Panchayat shall have the custody of the proceedings and records of the Gram Panchayat and of the Committees thereof and may grant copies of any such proceedings or records on payment of such fees as prescribed in Part-III of these rules. Copies shall be certified by the Executive authority, as provided in section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and copies so certified may be used to prove the proceedings and records of the Gram Panchayat or a Committee in the same manner, as the proceedings of a municipal body may under sub-section (5) of Section 78 of the said Act, be used to prove the proceedings of that body.

13. Rules 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 mutatis mutandis apply to the proceedings of Committee of the Gram Panchayat.

14. The proceedings of every committee appointed by a Gram Panchayat shall be recorded in writing and submitted to the Gram Panchayat.

PART-II
RELATING TO PROCEEDINGS OF GRAM PANCHAYATS
AND COMMITTEES THEREOF.

15. No member shall vote on, or take part in the discussion of any question coming up for consideration at a meeting of the Gram Panchayat, in any matter in which, apart from its general application to the public, he has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest whether by himself or through some other person.

16. The sarpanch may prohibit any member from voting on, or taking part in the discussion of any question in which he believes such member to have such pecuniary interest or he may require such member to absent himself during the discussions.

17. Such member may challenge the decision of the Sarpanch who shall thereupon put the question to the meeting. The decision of the meeting shall be final. The member concerned shall be entitled to vote on the question.

18. If the Sarpanch is believed by any member present at the meeting to have pecuniary interest in any question under discussion and if a motion is carried to that effect, the Sarpanch shall not vote on or take part in such discussion.

19. Rules 15 to 18 shall mutatis mutandis apply to the proceedings of the committee of the Gram Panchayat.

PART- III
GRANT OF COPIES OF PROCEEDINGS OR RECORDS

20. A person requiring copies or extracts from proceedings or records of a Gram Panchayat shall submit an application (giving his full name and address and an accurate description of the proceedings of record as possible) to the executive authority of the Gram Panchayat. When the proceedings or records, copies or the extracts from which are applied for, belong to any year prior to the current calendar year, a search fee according to the scale specified below shall be remitted to the Gram Panchayat as soon as the application has been admitted:

1. For searching records of any one year for a single Rs. 2-50 document or entry.
2. For searching the records of every additional year. Rs. 1-25

NOTES:

1. A separate application need not be presented in respect of each   proceeding or record of which a copy or extract is required,
2. Enclosures or annexures to letters, accounts or other documents form part of the documents to which they pertain shall not be reckoned for purposes of search as separate documents.

21. If the record is not found, the fee paid shall not be refunded but the applicant shall be furnished with a certificate stating that the documents applied for cannot be found.

22. 

1. If the record is found and the executive authority decides to grant copies of or extracts from it, the applicant shall deposit in cash, a fee of twenty- five paise for every 175 words or part thereof.
2. In the case of Statements or extracts from Registers where figures have to copied. five figures shall be taken as equivalent to one word.
3. In the case of maps or plans, a reasonable fee shall be fixed by the Executive authority in consultation with the engineering staff in charge of the Gram Panchayat works.

23. The Executive authority shall intimate to the applicant the fees chargeable for the copy of, or extract from the proceedings or record. On receipt of the fee he shall have the copies, extracts or tracings prepared. The copies of or extracts shall then be certified by him as true after scrutiny in office and furnished to the applicant if he appears in person to receive them, or sent by post if the applicant has deposited the necessary postage stamps for the purpose.

24. A receipt signed by the Executive authority or any person empowered by him in this behalf shall be furnished to every person depositing search fees or copying fees.

25. If the Executive authority considers the grant of the copy of or extracts from any proceedings or record of confidential nature, he shall reject the application by an endorsement stating briefly the reasons for doing so.

26. Rules 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 shall mutatis mutandis apply to the proceedings of a committee of a Gram Panchayat.

27. The proceedings of every committee appointed by a Gram Panchayat shall be recorded in writing and submitted to the Gram Panchayat.

ANNEXURE

1. Every Gram Panchayat shall provide a building for location of its office by constructing one by itself or by taking one on rent or free of rent and its office shall be located therein.
2. The building referred to above shall be:
   
   1. as far as possible in the centre of the main village.
   2. a place accessible to all the members of the Gram Panchayat and to all castes and communities.
3. The office of the Gram Panchayat once located in a building not owned by the Gram Panchayat shall not be shifted to any other building, except upon a specific resolution passed by the gram panchayat for the purpose supported by not less than three fourths of the sanctioned strength and with the previous approval of the District Collector.
4. No building belonging to the Sarpanch, Upa-Sarpanch or Members or their relations shall be used for the office of the Gram Panchayat without the previous approval of the District Collector concerned.

EXPLANATION: In the determination of the three fourths of the sanctioned strength of the Gram Panchayats under this rule, any fraction arrived at shall be ignored.

NOTE: The District Collector may, at his discretion in deserving cases, relax any of the conditions stipulated above.

DECISIONS

Resolutions passed or decisions taken by Gram Sabha or Gram Panchayat should be in conformity with rules: Gram Sabha or Gram Panchayat does not have absolute powers while passing resolutions or taking decisions, The resolutions passed or decisions taken by those bodies must be in conformity with rules. The resolution passed by the Gram Panchayat to construct the office building at the Diguvakamma Kandrika is not in accordance with G.O.Ms.No. 227 Dt. 13-04-1995. Therefore, the direction of the District Collector that the Gram Panchayat office building should be constructed at Eguvakamma vari Kandrika, which is the central place of the village, as per the provisions contained in G.O.No. 227 cannot be faulted. Eguvakamma vari kandrika Gram Panchayat v. District Collector, Chittoor and others. 2004 (1) ALD (NOC) 30.

Collector has no power to interfere with resolutions pass by PRIs: There cannot be any doubt whatsoever that Government man, eithere suo motu or on a reference made to it by the executive authority, is entitled to cancel any resolution p;assed by Grampanchayat on the grounds in Section.246. Under sub-section(3) the Collector can make a report to the Government to suspend the resolution. in the instance case, the Government did not exercise any such power but the District Collector interfered with the resolujtion passed by the Grampanchayat. In our consdiered opinion, the Collector could not have intered with resolution passed by the Grampanchayat. Eguvakamma Kanddrika Grampanchayat/v.Collector, Chittoor.2004(2)ALT317(DB).