 the delhi municipal corporation (amendment) bill, 1961(to be introduced in lok sabha)  the delat muntcipal corporation (amend- ment) bill, '1961 (to be introduced in lok sabha) a billfurther to amend the delhi municipal corporation; act, 1957 be it enacted by parliament in the twelfth year of the republic of india as follows:-1 this act may be called the delhi municipal corporation short title (amendment) act,1961 66 of 15151· 5 2 in section 2 of the delhi municipal corporation act, 1957 amendment (hereinafter refeited to as the principal act) , in clause (48), after the of section z word! "made", the words "by the corporation" shall be inserted 3 (1) for section 5 of the principal act, the following section substitution ihalll be substituted, namely: -~:c~i~'! for section s 10 "5, (1) for the purposes of election of eounc:iliors, delhi shall delimitation be divided into sinaie-member wards of wards (2) the central government shall, by order in the omcial osette, d~tennine,-(a) the number of wards; (b) the extent of each ward; and (c:) the warda in wh1c:h seats ahau be reserved for the seheduled cut  " (2) the provisions of section 5 of the principal act as substituted by su1hec:tlon (1) of· this section shan not apply in relation to any ao eleetlon to 811 a c:uual vacadcy oecurridi in the oftlee of a councillor at any time before the general electioh of councillors to be held next after the commencement of this act amed4ment 4 in section 10 of the principal act, sub-section (2) shall be omit· of lecuon 10 ted amendment 5 in section 31 of the principal act, in sub-section (1), after item s ofiectiod 31 (h), the fnllowing item shall be inserted, namely:-"(hh) the requisitioning of premiaes, vehicles, vessels or animals, payment of compensation in connection with such requisitioning, eviction· from requisitioned premises and rel'ease of premises from requisition;" 10 ~~eo~ s in section 38 of the principal act, for the word "secretary", in lectlod 3 - both the places where it occurs, the words "municipal secret-y" shall be substituted amendment of lciction 11) 7 in section 113 of the principal act, in sub-section (2), iii clause (d), for the words "or sale", the words "sale or supply" shall be iub- is stituted amendment 8 section 119 of the principal act shall be re-numbered as subof lcctiod section (1) of that section and- ljsi· (a) in that sub-section as so re-numbered, in the proviso for the words "in this section", the words "in this sub-section" shall 30 be substituted;  (b) after that sub-sectiop as so re-numbered, the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:- (2) where the possession of any land or building, being property of the union, has been delivered in pursuance of as section 20 of the displaced persons (compensation and rehabilitation) act, 1954 to a displaced person or any association 44 of 19'''' of displaced persons, whether incorporated or not, or to any other person (hereafter in this bub-section and the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 120' referred to as the transferee), jq the property taxes specified in section 114 shall be leviable and shall be deemed to have been leviable in respect of such land or building with effect from the 7th day of april, 1958 or the date on which possel8ion thereof has been delivered to the transferee, whichever is later, and such property taxes is shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 126 or any other provision of this act, be recoverable with effect from t~at day or date, as the case may be  5 t in section 120 of the principal act, in sub-section lowing proviso shall be inserted at the end, namely:-(1), the fol- amendment of section uo "provided that the property taxes in respect of land or building being' property of the union possession of which has been delivered in pursuance of section 20 of the displaced persons (compensation and rehabilitation) act, 1954, shall be primarily leviable upon the transferee" to in section '124 of the principal act,-(a) in sub-section (3),-io (i) the words "and the assessments of property taxes in respect of lands and buildings" shall be omitted; (it) for the words "or the assessment is increased", the words "or the rateable value of any land or building is increased" shall be substituted;  (b) in sub-section (4), for the words "aisessment or any other matter", the words "any other matter" and for the words "assessment or other matter" the words "or other matter" shall be substituted; - 20 (c) in sub-section (6), for the words "rateable' value and assessment", the woo'ds "rateable value" and for the words "rateable· values or assessments", the words "rateable values" shall be substituted 11: in section 125 of the principal act,-amendment (a) in clause (a), the word "and" occurring at the end shall 125· be omitted; 25 (b) clause (b) shall be omitted 12 in section 126 of the principal act, in sub-section (1), in the amen~ment prov'iso, for the words "in which the amendment is made", the words ~i:~10n "in which the notice under sub-section (2) is given" shall be sub-30 stituted 13 in section 127 of the principal act, the words "and assess- amendment menta"  wherever they occur shall be omitted of ae ;tion , ,  131· 14 in section 137 of the principal act, in the second proviso, after ame~ent clause (c), the following clause shall be insen"ted, namely:-~~;~cuon 3s ii (d) a cow kept for milking for domestic use if the cow is the only cow kept by the owner or the person having possession or control thereof for' such milking and is registered in accordance with bye-laws made in this behalf, so, however, that where more cows than one are kept by several such owners or persons constituting a family, the tax under this section mall be levied in respect of all such cows" su~stitution 15 for section 164 of the principal act, the following sectl'on shall of new scctionfor sec- be substituted, namely: -i tion 164 remission or refund of tax - "164 (1) if any building together with land appurtenant thereto has remained vacant and unproductive of rent for sixty or more consecutive days, the commissionet shall remit or refund, as the case may be, two-thirdsof such portion of the scavenging tax, the fire tax and the general tax assessed on the 10 rateable value thereof, as may be proportionate to the number of days during which the said building together with the land appurtenant thereto has remained vacant and unproductive of rent, (2) h any land, not being land appurtenant toa building, is has remained vacant and unproductive of rent for sixty or more consecutive days, the commissioner shall remit or refund, as the case may be, one-half of such portion of the scavenging tax, the fire tax and the general tax assessed on the rateable value thereof, as may be proportionate to the number of days during which the 20 said land has remained vacant and unproductive of rent (3) if any land whether appurtenant to a building or not, or any building has remained vacant and unproductive of rent for sixty or more consecutive days, the commissioner shall remit or refund, as the case may be, such portion of the w1lter tax assessed 25 on the rateable value thereof iqs may be proportionate to the number of days during which the said land or building has remained vacant and unproductive of rent: provided that no remission or refund of the water tax shall be allowed unless an application in such form as may be pres- 30 cribed by bye-laws made in this behalf has been made to the commissioner to stop th~ supply of water to such land or building or unless the commissioner is satisfied that having regard to the circums1:l!inces of any case such remission or refund shou1-l be allowed", ',"''7'135 substitution 16 for section 343 of the principal act, the following section shall ~i~~e;:'rs~~_ be substituted, namely: ~ tion 343· "343 (1) where the erection of any building or execution of any work has been commenced, or is being carried on, or has been completed without or contrary to the sanction referred to 40 in section 336 or in contravention of 8iw condition subject to which ,uch sanctio1\ hae ~n accorded or in contraventi01\ of order of demolition and stoppage of buildings and works in certain cases aftd appeal any of the provisions of this act or bye-laws made thereunder, the commissioner may, in addition to any other action that may be taken under this act, make an order directing that such erection or work shall be demolished by the person at whose instance 5 the erection or work has been commenced or is being carried on or has been completed, within such period, (not being less than five deys and more than fifteen days from the date on which a copy of the order of demolition with a brief statement of the reasons therefor has been delivered to that person) as may be 10 specified in the order of demolition: prdvided that no order of demolition shell be made unless the person has been given by means of a notice served in such manner as the commissioner may think fit, a reasonable opportunity of showing cause why such order shall not be ~ade: 15 20 provided further that where the erection or 'work hils not been completed, the commissioner may by the same order or by a separate order, whether made at the time of the issue of the notire under the first proviso or at any other time, direct the person to stop the erection or work until the expiry of the period within which an appeal against the order of demolition, if mode, may be preferred under sub-section (2) (2) any person aggrieved by an order of the commissioner made under sub-section (1) may prefer an appeal against the order to the court of the district judge of delhi within ,the perjod specified in the order for the demolition of the erection or work to which it relates1 30 (3) where an appeal is preferred under sub-seotion (2) against an order of demolition, the court of the district judge may stay the enforcement of that order on such terms, if any, and for such period, as it may think fit: 35 provided tha( where the erection of any building or execution of any work has not been completed at the time of the making of the order of demolition, no order staying the enforcement of the order of demolition shall be made by the court of the district judge unless security, sufficient in the opinion of the court, has been given by the appellant for not proceeding with such erection or work pending the disposal of the appeal (4) save as provided in this section, no court shall entertain any suit, application or other proceeding for injunction or other relief against the commissioner to restrain him from taking any action or making any order in pursuance of the provisions of this sectioft 1 (5) every order made by the court of the district judge on appeal and subject only to such order, the order of demolition made by the commis~ioner shall be final· and conclusive ' (6) where no appeal has been preferred against an order of demolition mede by the commissioner under sub-section (1) or s wh~re an order of demolition made by the commissioner under , that sub-section has been confirmed on appeal, whether with or without variation, the person against whom the order has been made shall comply with the order within the period specified therein, or as the case may be, within the period, if any, ,fixed by 10 the court of the district judge on appeal and on th~ failure of the person to comply with the order within such period, the commissioner may himself cause the erection or the work to which the order relatt:!s to be demolished and the expen5es of such demolition shall be recoverable from such person as an is atrear of tax under this act" amendment of section 344· 17 in section 344 of the principal act, in sub-section (2), for the words "if such order is not complied with forthwith", the words, figure,,; and brackets "if an order made by the commissioner under section 343 or under sub-section (1) of this section directing any 20 person to stop the erection of any building or execution of any work is not complied with," shall be substituted amendment of section 460 18 in 'section 460 of the principal act, in clause (a), after the word "applications", in both the places where it occurs, the words lielection petitions," shall be inserted 19 in section 479 of the principal act, for sub-section (2), the following sub-section shall be substituted, namely:-amendment of section 479 "(2) every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may be alter it is made, before each house of parliament while it is in session for 'a total period of'tilirty days which may 30 be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions and if before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such 35 modified fo'rm or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule" 20 in s(~ction 48l (if the principal act in sub-section (1), under 40 the heading "d bye-la ,:'8 relating to transport services", in item (1), amendment of section 4111 fter the words lithe issue of passes", the worda lito the councillors and aldermen and" shall be inserted and shall be deemed always to have been inserted: zl in the sixth schedule to the principal act, in note 3, for the amendment - figures "336" the figures "337" shall be substituted of sixth , j ,  - scpedulc 22 in the tenth schedule to the principal act, under the heading amendment "class viii-metals and articles made of metals", in item 9, for the s~~d'::rc word "betal", the word "metal" shall be substituted 10 23 in the twelfth schedule to the principal act,--amcftdmen oftweinh (a) against section 236; sub-section (2), in the third column, schedule the letters and figures "rs 100" shall be inserted and the existing - entry in the fourth column shall be omitted; (b) against section 241, in the third column, the letters and figures "rs 50" shall be inserted and the existing entry in the fourth column shall be omitted; and 15 (c) against section 343, in the secc?nd column, the words "or erection of buildings in contravention of order" shall be added at the end  statement of objects and reasonsthe municipal corporation of delhi has recommended that muiti  member wards for election of councillors should be replaced  by single-member wards it is proposed to amend suimbly section 5 of the delhi municipal corporation act, 1957 to give effect to this recommendation this opportunity has been availed of to propose certain other amendments in the act which have been found necessary in the light of the expel1ience gained in the working of the act the notes on clauses explain briefly the reasons for the proposed amendments1 i lal bahadur new delhi; the 5th august, 1961 - czatlse 3-the clause seeks to give effect to the proposal to divide delhi into single-member wards for the purposes of election of councillors czatlse 5-the proposed amendment seeks to empower specifically the central governmtmt to make rules relating to the temporary requisition of premises, vehicles, etc, in connection with the municipal elections clause 7-the proposed amendment is intended to make it cletfr that the tax on the sale of electricity uhder section 113 (2) (d) of the act is leviable also on electricity supplied in bulk under sections 284 and 285 of the act to the new delhi municipal committee and the military engineering services, delhi cantonment clause 8-under the agreements executed by the transferees of properties included in the compensation pool under the displaced persons (compensation and rehabilitation) act 1954, possession thereof has been delivered to the transferees but the title will be transferred retrospectively only after the last instalment of the consideration has been paid and a conveyance is execut~ as such properties r~main union properties pending the transfer of title, it has been held by court that the properties are exempt from property taxes by virtue of section 119 of the act although· the transferees had undertaken to pay such taxes section li9 is proposed to be amended suitably in order to overcome this difficulty clause io-as property taxes are assessed on a percentage of the rateable value of lands and buildings, mention of the specific amount of assessment in addition to the rateable value thereof in the assessment list is considered unnecessary besides, it entails delay in publishing the assessment list and the collection cf property taxes it is accordingly proposed to omit the requirement specifying the amount of tax in the assessment list clause 12-at present if an amendment of the assessment list is not completed in the year in which the notice of the proposal to make the amendment has been issued by the commissioner, the liability for the property taxes according to the amended list accrues onlv after the commencement of the year in which the amendmeut is ~ade there does not appear any reasonable justificetion as ~o why the liability to pay the property taxes in such a case should not accrue in the year in which the notice of the proposal is issued by -the commissioner this is sought to be done by the amendment proposed in the proviso' to section 126 (1) the amendment proposed will not take the assessee by surprise or in genuine cases cause any hardship to him as he has already been served with the notice of the proposal clause 14-this amendment has been proposed in view of the recommendation of the corporation that one ·cow kept for domestic use should be exempt from tax on animals leviable under section 136 of the act i clause i5-for the stabilisation of land values in delhi, it is necessary to impel owners of vacant building sites to build on the plots instead of keeping them vacant for speculative purposes in view of the shortage of residential and commercial accommodation, it is also necessary to ensure that the owners do not keep their buildings vacant 'longer than necessary hence it is proposed to limit the refund of property taxes (other than water tax) on vacant lands to fifty per cent and on vacant buildings and lands appurtenant thereto to 66 i per cent clause i6-there has been a 'steep increase in unauthorised constructions in delhi which, besides being a challenee to the lawful authority, hamper the planned development of the capital in order to check any further unauthorised constructions it is proposed to arm the commissioner with some additional powers by making suitable amendments in section 343 of the act as proposed in this clause clause 18-for the expeditious dispcsal of election petitions, it is proposed to enable the district judge to delegate to an additional distri~t judge the power to hear such petitions clause 20-as recommended by the corporation the proposed amendment seeks to empower the corporation to make bye-laws providing for the issue of passes to the councillors and aldermen clauses 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 17, 19, 21, 22 and 23-the amendments proposed in these cl~uses are either consequential or of a clarifieatory nature under section 5 of the act as prol?osed to be substituted by clause 3 of the bill, the central government has to make a fresh order delimiting the single-member wards and reserving the re quisite number of seats for the scheduled castes the delimitation of single-member wards will necessitate the appointment of some additional clerical staff for a shqrt :period of about two months and will also involve some expenditure of an incidental nature the total expenditure on this account to be met out of the consolidated fund of india, would be about rs 2,150  memorandum regarding d~legated legislationclause 5 of the bill which seeks to amend section 31 of the delhi municipal corporation act, 19~7, confers on the central government specifically the power to make rules relating to the temporary requisition of premises, vehicles, etc, payment of compensation therefor, eviction from requisitioned premises and release of premises from requisition, in connection with the municipal elections the amendment of section 481 (1) of the act as prop~ in clause 20 of the bill seeks to enlarge the powers of the corporation to make bylaws for the issue of passes to councillors and aldermen also these are matters of details and the delegation to legislative power is of a nornuil character  annexure extracts from tue delhi municipal corporation act, 1957(66 of 1957) - - ,, - ja-flnitionl - 2 in this act, unless the context otherw~se requires-- - - - (48) "regulation" means a regulation made under this act by notification in the official gazette; ,, ,, - ,, 5 (1) for the purposes of election of councillors delhi shall be delimitadivided into multi-member wards tion of wards (2) the central governm~nt shall by order in the official gazette, determine--(a) the number of wards; (b) the extent of each ward: (c) the number of seat~ allotted td each ward: and (d) the number of seats, if any, reserved for the scheduled castes in each ward - - - - ,, 10 (1) - ,, ,, ,, right to vote (2) in every ward an elector shall have as many votes as there are councillors to be elected from that ward but no elector shall at any election give more than one vote to anyone candidate - - ,, - 38 (1) the mayor may by writing under his hand addressed to resignation the deputy mayor and delivered to the secretary resign his office ofdmad' yor - an eputy (2) the deputy mayor may, by writing under his hand address- muyor ed to the mayor and delivered to the secretary, resign his office  - - - -  taxes to be 113 (1) - - - - imposed by  the corpora-(2) in addition to the taxes specified in sub-section (1)", the cor-~~~ &~er poration may, for the purposes of this act, levy any of the follow· ing taxes, namely:--  - - (d) a tax on the consumption or sale of 'electricity; - - - - taxation of union properties 119 notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this chapter, lands and buildings being properties of the union shall be exempt from the property taxes specified in section 114: provided that nothing in this section shall prevent the corporation from levying any of the said taxes on such lands and buildings to which immediately before the 26th january, 1950, they were liable or treated as liable, so long as that tax continues to be levied by the corporation on other lands and buildings - - - - 124 - -  - assessment list (3) the commissioner shall, at the same time, give public notice of a date not less than one month thereafter, when he will proceed to consider the rateable values of lands and buildings and the assessments of property taxes in respect of lands and buildings, entered in the assessment list, and in all cases in which any land or building is for the first time assessed, or the assessment is increased, he shall also give written notic' thereof to the owner or to any lessee or occupier of the land or building (4) any objection to a rateable value or assessment or any other matter as entered in the assessment list shall be made in writing to the commissioner before the date fixed in the notice and shall state in what respect the rateable value, assessment or other matter is disputed, and all objections so made shall be recorded in a register to be kept for the purpose  - - - (6) when all objections have been disposed of, and the revision of the rateable value and assessment has been completed, the assessment list shall be authenticated by the signature of the commissioner or, as the case may be, the officer authorised by him in this behalf, who shall c;ertify that except in the cases, if any, in which amendment:; have been made as shown therein no valid objection has been made to the rateable values or assessments or any other matters entered in the said list  - - - - - 125 subject to such alterations as may thereafter be made in evidential· the assessment list under section 126 and to the result of any appeal ::~~s~m~~t made under the provisions of this act, the entries in the assessment ilst list authenticated and deposited as provided in section 124 shall be accepted as conclusive evidence-(a) for the purpose of assessing any tax levied under this act, of the rateable value of all lands and buildings to which such entries respectively relate; and (b) for the purposes of any tax levied on lands or buildings, of the amount of each such tax leviable thereon during the year to which such list relates 126 (1) the commissioner may, at any time, amend the assess- amendment   ot assessment hst, ment list  - - - - - provided that no person shall by reason of any such amendment become liable to pay any tax or increase of tax in respect of any period prior to the commencement of the year in which the amendment is made1     127 it shall be in the discretion of the commissioner to prepare preparation for the whole or any part of delhi a new assessment list every year ~:9::':n~s­or to adopt the rateable values and assessments contained in the list list for any year, with such alterations as may in particular cases be deemed necessary, as the rateable values and assessments for the year following, giving the same public notice as well as individual notices, to persons affected by such alterations, of the rateable values and assessments ·as it a new assessment list had been prepared  - - - - - 164 if any land or building has remained vacant and unproduc- rem'ission or tive of rent for sixty or more consecutive days, the commissioner refund of shall remit or refund, as the case may be, such portion of any tax tax assessed on the rateable value thereof as may be proportionate to the number of days during which the said land or building has remained vacant and unproductive of rent: provided that no remission or refund of the water tax shall be allowed under this section unless an application in 8uch form as may be prescribed by bye-laws made in thia behalf has been made to the commissioner to stop the supply of water to such land or building or unless the commissioner is satisfied that having regard to the circuffi"ances of any case such remission or refund should be allowed  -  - - - - order of 343 where the erection of any building or execution of any work dfemb ollidt~on has been commenced, oris being carried on, or has been completed o ui mgs and works in without or contrary to the sanction referred to in section 336 or in certain case~ contravention of any condition subject to which such sanction has been accorded or in contravention of any of the provisions of this act or bye-laws made thereunder, the commissioner may, in addition to any other action that may be taken under this act, make an order directing that such erection or work shall be demolished within such period not exceeding thirty days as may be specified in the qrder, by the person at whose instance the erection or work has been commenced or is being carried on or has been completed, and on the failure of that person to comply with the! order, the commissioner may himself cause the erection or the work to be demolished and the expenses of such demolition shall be recoverable from such person as an arrear of tax under this act:, provided that no such order shall pe made unless the person has  been given an opportunity of being beard 344 (1)· - - - - order of sto,l?pqe of buildings or wor~ in (2) if such order is not ·cm;nplied with forthwith, the commissioner certain cases, 11 h' may require any police officer to remove such person and a is assistants and workmen from the premises within such time as may be specified in the requisition and such poliee officer shall comply with the requisition accordingly - - - 460 the court of the district judge of delhi may- power of the court or the district judge to delepte certain powers and to make r,'ues,: (a) delegate, either generally or specially, to the court of an additional district judge, power to receive applications, appeals and references under this act or any rule, regulation or byelaw made thereunder, and· to hear and d~ermine such applications, appeals and references; 479 (1)· - - - - - supplcal~~ tal ployi-(2) all rules made under this act  shall be laid for not less than io~ resthirty days before each house of parliament as soon as may be after =~ they are made and shall be subject to such modificatiods as parliament may make during the session in which they are so laid or the session immediately followtng  -  - - 'ii (1) subject to the provisions of this act the corporation po,:r~o may, in addttion to any bye-laws which it is empowered to make by =: yeany other provision of this act, make bye-laws to provide far all or any of the following matters, namely:-- - - - -  d bye-laws relating to transport service,(1) the issue of passes to the employees employed in connection with the affairs of the delhi transport undertaking and the conditions subject to which such passes may be issued; - - - - - -  the sixth schedule (see section 149)tax on bt1ilding applicatio:'s - - - - - nb 3-in cases where an application is deemed to have been sanctioned under the provisions of section 336 the tax shall become payable in the· same manner as in cases where an application is sanctionecij , - - - - -  the tenth schedule [see section 178 (1) ]-  rates c1i'terminal taxes on goods - • •- - 9 stoppers made of betel - - - -  - the twelfth schedule (see section 461)- - penalties - - - ri 100 section 236 sublec:tion (z) construction of latrines, etc •• in a position where pipes may be injured or wlter therein polluted section 341 ri so  - injury to, or interference with free flow of contentl of municipal drain or drains communicating with municipal drain -   section 343 failure to demolish buildinas erected rs 1,000 rs 25 without sanction  - a" bill further to amend the delhi municipal corporation act, 1957 the president has, in pursuance of clause (3) of article 11 7 of the ,constitution of india, r\!commended to lok sabha the consideration of the bill m n kaul, secretary - - (shri lal bahadur shastn", minister 01 home affairs) 