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THE GOVERNMENT OF
NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY OF DELHI ACT, 1991
An Act of supplement
the provisions of the Constitution relating to the Legislative
Assembly and a Council of Ministers for the National Capital
Territory of Delhi and for matters connected therewith or incidental
thereto.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-second year of the Republic
of India as follows :-
PART – I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title and
commencement :
(1) This Act may be called the Government of National Capital
Territory of Delhi Act, 1991.
(2) It shall come into force on such date* as the Central Government
may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint:
Provided that different dates may be appointed for different
provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to
the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to
the coming into force of that provision.
{*1. Section 2,3,38,39,40 and 43 came into force on 1st February ,
1992. (Gazette of India - Extraordinary, Part II, Sec.3 dated 31st
January, 1992)
2. Sections 4 to 37 (both inclusive), 41 to 45 (both inclusive), 49
to 52 (both inclusive), 54 and 55 came into force on 2nd October,
1993. (Gazette of India - Extraordinary, Part II, Sec.3 dated 30th
September, 1993)}
2. Definitions :
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires :-
(a) "article" means an article of the Constitution.
(b) “assembly constituency" means a constituency provided under this
Act, for the purpose of elections to the Legislative Assembly .
(c) “Capital” means the National Capital Territory of Delhi .
(d) “Election Commission” means the Election Commission referred to
in article 324.
(e) “Legislative Assembly” means the Legislative Assembly of the
National Capital Territory of Delhi.
(f) “Scheduled Castes” in relation to the Capital, means such
castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within such castes,
races or tribes as are deemed under article 341 to be Scheduled
Castes in relation to the Capital.
PART – II
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
3. Legislative
Assembly and its composition
(1) The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly to be
filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial
constituencies shall be seventy.
(2) For the purpose of elections to the Legislative Assembly, the
Capital shall be divided into single member assembly constituencies
in accordance with the provisions of Part III in such manner that
the population of each of the constituencies shall, so far as
practicable , be the same throughout the Capital.
(3) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes in the
Legislative Assembly, and the number of seats so reserved shall
bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number
of seats in the assembly as the population of the Schedule Castes in
the Capital bears to the total population of the Capital and the
provisions of article 334 shall apply to such reservations.
Explanation :- In this section, the expression “population” means
the population as ascertained in the last preceding census of which
the relevant figures have been published;
Provided that where such figures have not been published , then for
the purposes of elections for the constitution of the first
Legislative Assembly under this Act, the provisional figures of the
population of the Capital as published in relation to the 1991
census shall be deemed to be the population of the Capital.
4. Qualifications for membership of Legislative Assembly :
A person shall not be qualified to the chosen to fill a seat in the
Legislative Assembly unless he :
(a) is a citizen of India and makes and subscribes before some
person authorized in that behalf by the Election Commission an oath
or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the
Schedule .
(b) is not less than twenty-five years of age; and
(c) possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that
behalf by or under any law made by parliament.
5. Duration of Legislative Assembly :
The Legislative Assembly, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue
for five years from the date of appointed for its firs meeting and
no longer, and the expiration of the said period of five years shall
operate as a dissolution of the Assembly :
Provided that the said period may, while a Proclamation of Emergency
issued under clause (1) of article 352 is in operation, be extended
by the President by order for a period not exceeding one year at a
time and not extending in any case beyond a period of six months
after the Proclamation has ceased to operate.
6. Sessions of Legislative Assembly, Prorogation and dissolution
:
(1) The Lieutenant Governor shall, from time-to-time, summon the
Legislative Assembly to meet at such time and place as he thinks
fit, but six months shall not be intervene between its last sitting
in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the
next session.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor may, from time to time.
( a) prorogue the Assembly
(b) dissolve the Assembly;
7. Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly:
1. The Legislative Assembly shall, as soon as may be, choose two
members of the Assembly to be respectively Speaker and Deputy
Speaker thereof and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy
Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall choose another member to
be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.
2. A member holding office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly :-
(a) shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the
Assembly;
(b) may, at any time by writing under his hand addressed, if such
member is the Speaker, to the Deputy Speaker, and if such member is
the Deputy Speaker, to the Speaker, resign his office; and
(c) may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Assembly
passed by a majority of all the then members of the Assembly.
Provided that no resolution for the purpose of clause (c) shall be
moved unless as least fourteen days notice has been given of the
intention to move the resolution;
Provided further that whenever the Assembly is dissolved, the
Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the
first meeting of the Assembly after the dissolution.
(3) While the office of Speaker is vacant the duties of the office
shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker or, if the office of Deputy
Speaker is also vacant, by such member of the Assembly as may be
determined by the rules of procedure of the Assembly.
(4) During the absence of the Speaker from any sitting of the
Assembly, the Deputy Speaker, or, if he is also absent, such person
as may be determined by the rules of the procedure of the Assembly,
or, if no such person is present, such other person as may be
determined by the Assembly, shall act as Speaker.
(5) There shall be paid to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the
Legislative Assembly such salaries and allowances as may be
respectively fixed by the Legislative Assembly by law and, until
provision in that behalf is so made, such salaries an allowances as
the Lieutenant Governor may, with the approval of the President, by
order determine.
8. Speaker or Deputy Speaker not to preside while a resolution for
his removal from office is under consideration:
(1) At any sitting of the Legislative Assembly, while any resolution
for the removal of the Speaker from his office is under
consideration, the Speaker, or while any resolution for the removal
of the Deputy Speaker from his office is under consideration, the
Deputy Speaker shall not, though he is present, preside and the
provisions of sub-section(4) of section 7 shall apply in relation to
every such sitting as they apply in relation to a sitting from which
the Speaker or, as the case may be, the Deputy Speaker is absent.
(2) The Speaker shall have the right to speak in and otherwise to
take part in the proceedings of, the Legislative Assembly while any
resolution for his removal from office is under consideration in the
assembly and shall, notwithstanding anything in section 13, be
entitled to vote only in the first instance on such resolution or on
any other matter during such proceedings but not in the case of any
equality of votes.
9. Right of Lieutenant Governor to Address and send messages to
Legislative Assembly:
(1) The Lieutenant Governor may address the Legislative Assembly and
for that purpose require the attendance of members.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor may send messages to the Assembly
whether with respect to a Bill then pending in the Assembly or
otherwise, and when a message is so sent, the Assembly shall with
all convenient dispatch consider any matter required by the message
to be taken into consideration.
10. Special Address by the Lieutenant Governor:
(1) At the commencement of the first session after each general
election to the Legislative Assembly and at the commencement of the
first session of each year the Lieutenant Governor shall address the
Legislative Assembly and inform it of the causes of its summons.
(2) Provision shall be made by rules to be made by the Assembly
regulation its procedure for the allotment of time for discussion on
the matters referred to in such address.
11. Rights of Minister as respects Legislative Assembly ;
Every Ministers shall have the right to speak in and other wise to
take part in the proceedings of, the Legislative Assembly and to
speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceeding of, any
committee of the Legislative Assembly of which he may be named a
member, but shall not by virtue of this section be entitled to vote.
12. Oath or affirmation by members :
Every member of the Legislative Assembly shall, before taking his
seat, make and subscribe before the Lieutenant Governor, or some
person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation
according to the form set out for the purpose in the Schedule.
13. Voting in Assembly, power of Assembly to act notwithstanding
vacancies and quorum :
(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, all questions at any
sitting of the Legislative Assembly shall be determined by a
majority of votes of the members present and voting other than the
Speaker or person acting as such.
(2) The Speaker or person acting as such shall not vote in the first
instance, but shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of
an equality of votes.
(3) The Legislative Assembly shall have power to act notwithstanding
any vacancy in the membership thereof, and any proceedings in the
Legislative Assembly shall be valid notwithstanding that it is
discovered subsequently that some person who was not entitled so to
do, sat or voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings.
(4) The quorum to constitute a meeting of the Legislative Assembly
shall be one-third of the total number of members of the Assembly.
(5) If at any time during a meeting of the Legislative Assembly
there is no quorum, it shall be the duty of the Speaker, or person
acting as such, either to adjourn the Assembly or to suspend the
meeting until there is a quorum.
14. Vacation of Seats:
(1) No person shall be a member both of Parliament and the
Legislative Assembly and if a person is chosen a member both of
Parliament and of such Assembly, then, at the expiration of such
period as is specified in or under the Representation of the People
Act, 1951 and the rules made by the President under clause(2) of
article 190, that person’s seat in Parliament shall become vacant
unless he has previously resigned his seat in the Legislative
Assembly.
(2) If a member of the Legislative Assembly :-
(a) becomes subject to any disqualification mentioned in section 15
or section 16 for membership of the Assembly; or
(b) resigns his seat by writing under his hand addressed to the
Speaker and his resignation is accepted by the Speaker.
His seat shall thereupon become vacant :
Provided that in the case of any resignation referred to in clause
(b), if from the information received or otherwise and after making
such inquiry as he thinks fit, the Speaker is satisfied that such
resignation is not voluntary or genuine, he shall not accept such
resignation.
(3) If for a period of sixty days a member of the Legislative
Assembly is without permission of the Assembly absent from all
meetings thereof, the Assembly may declare his seat vacant.
Provided that in computing the said period of sixty days, no account
shall be taken of any period during which the assembly is prorogued
or is adjourned for more than four consecutive days.
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