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Sunday, Nov 13, 2005

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Who will convene council meeting?

Karthik Subramanian

Rules not clear on what happens when both Mayor and Deputy Mayor are absent Several resolutions, including the setting up of a compost plant at Kodungaiyur, await the council's nod.

CHENNAI: With Deputy Mayor R. Thiagarajan not attending office for more than a month now, the big question doing the rounds at Ripon Buildings, the civic headquarters, is: who will convene the council meeting this month.

Important resolutions, including the setting up of a compost plant at Kodungaiyur and modernisation of the Perambur slaughterhouse, are slated to figure in the meeting.

Several councillors are eager to discuss the civic agency's handling of the flood situation.

But it seems that the Madras City Municipal Corporation Act does not adequately address the situation where both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor are absent from office.

Now, it boils down to an interpretation of various sections and applying it to the present situation.

The last meeting of the elected council was held in August. As per a recent amendment to the Act, the elected council can have only a maximum of three months gap between meetings. So, the council has to meet this month.

What does the Act say?

Under the circumstances, two sections of the MCMC Act and some rules under Schedule II of the Act regarding proceedings of the council gain significance. Section 38 A(2) of the Act states: "If the Mayor has been continuously absent from the city for more than 15 days or is incapacitated, his functions shall devolve on the Deputy Mayor until the Mayor returns to the city or recovers from his incapacity."

Section 32 of the Act says: "Every meeting of the council shall be presided over by the Mayor, in his absence, by the Deputy Mayor, and in the absence of both the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, the councillors shall elect one from among the councillors to preside over the occasion."

Schedule II says the Mayor, and, in his absence, the Deputy Mayor, might convene the council meeting. The councillors will have to be given six days notice. Rule 6 says: "If the offices of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor are vacant, the duties assigned to the Mayor shall be performed by the Commissioner."

In all likelihood, the Corporation Commissioner may be forced to convene the meeting. If the Deputy Mayor fails to turn up at the meeting, the councillors will have to elect a person to preside over the meeting.

On Saturday, the Congress floor leader in the Council, R. Mano, handed over a letter to the Commissioner asking him to use his discretionary powers to convene the meeting.

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