THE KERALA MUNICIPALITY ACT, 1994* - nrcddp

7. Duration of Municipalities and tilling up of vacancies.— (1) Every Municipality, unlesssooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer.(2) An election to constitute a Municipality shall be completed,-(a) before the expiry of its duration specified in sub-section (1); or(b) before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution; asthe case may be:Provided that where the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Municipality wouldhave continued is less than six months, it shall not be necessary to hold any election for constituting theMunicipality for such period.(3) A Municipality constituted upon the dissolution of a Municipality before the expirationof its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolvedMunicipality would have continued under sub-section(i), had it not be so dissolved.I3 [(3 A) A casual vacancy in the office of a Councillor shall be reported directly by the Secretaryconcerned to the State Election Commission within seven days from the date of occurrence of thatvacancy and the Secretary who fails to report so without proper reason shall be punishable with a finewhich may extend to one thousand rupees and for which the State Election Commission shall havepower to initiate the prosecution steps.](4) Election to fill a casual vacancy in the office of a Councillor shall be held by theState Election Commission 13A [within six months], after the occurence of that vacancy;Provided that it shall not be necessary to hold an election to fill a vacancy, the duration of whichis less than six months.(6) A Councillor elected to fill a casual vacancy shall be eligible to hold office for theremaining term of the person in whose place he was elected.8. Procedure where no Councillor is elected from any ward of a Municipality.—(1) Where, for any reason, a Councillor could not be elected from any of the wards, at an election theState Election Commission shall hold an election within three months to elect a Councillor from thatward.(2) The term of office of a Councillor elected under sub-section( 1) shall be co-terminus with theterm of the Municipality to which he is elected.9. Reservation to be subject to Article 334.— Notwithstanding anything contained insection 6 and section 10, reservation of seats in the Municipalities and in the offices of Chairman or Mayorthereof, as the case may be, for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes shall cease to have effecton the expiration of the period fixed in Article 334 for the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castesand the Scheduled Tribes in the State Legislative Assembly:Provided that nothing in this section shall affect any such reservation in a then existingMunicipality until the expiration of its duration or its dissolution, as the case may be.13. Sub-section (3A) added by Act 14 of 1999, w.e.f. 24-3-1999.13A. Substituted for "within three months" by Act 8 of 1996, w.e.f. 28-3-1996.