AMENDMENTS TO THE SIXTH SCHEDULE OF THE CONSTITUTION
1. In the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (hereinafter referred to as the Sixth Schedule), in
sub-paragraph (3) of paragraph 1, after clause (f), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—
―(ff) alter the name of any autonomous district,‖;
2. In paragraph 2 of the Sixth Schedule,—
(i) for sub-paragraph (1) , the following sub-paragraph shall be substituted, namely:—
―(1) There shall be a District Council for each autonomous district consisting of not more
than thirty members, of whom not more than four persons shall be nominated by the Governor
and the rest shall be elected on the basis of adult suffrage.‖;
(ii) in sub-paragraph (6)—
(a) in clause (e), for the words ―such Councils‖, the words ―Regional Councils‖ shall be
substituted;
(b) in clause (g), after the words ―conduct of business‖, the brackets and words
―(including the power to act notwithstanding any vacancy)‖ shall be inserted;
(iii) after sub-paragraph (6) the following sub-paragraph shall be inserted, namely:—
―(6A) The elected members of the District Council shall hold office for a term of
five years from the date appointed for the first meeting of the Council after the general
elections to the Council, unless the District Council is sooner dissolved under paragraph 16
and a nominated member shall hold office at the pleasure of the Governor:
Provided that the said period of five years may, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in
operation or if circumstances exist which, in the opinion of the Governor, render the holding of
elections impracticable, be extended by the Governor for a period not exceeding one year at a
time and in any case where a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation not extending beyond a
period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate:
Provided further that a member elected to fill a casual vacancy shall hold office only for the
remainder of the term of office of the member whom he replaces.‖;
(iv) in sub-paragraph (7)—
(a) after the words ―make rules‖, where they first occur the words ―with the approval of
the Governor‖ shall be inserted, and where they occur a second time, the words ―with like
approval‖ shall be inserted;
(b) the second proviso shall be omitted.
3. In paragraph 3 of the Sixth Schedule, in sub-paragraph (1),—
(i) in the proviso to clause (a), for the words ―Government of Assam‖, the words
―Government of Assam or the Government of Meghalaya‖ shall be substituted;
(ii) for clause (i), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—
―(i) ―marriage and divorce;‖.
4. In paragraph 4 of the Sixth Schedule, the following sub-paragraph shall be inserted at the end,
namely:—
―(5) On and from such date as the President may, after consulting the Government of Assam or,
as the case may be, the Government of Meghalaya, by notification appoint in this behalf, this
paragraph shall have effect in relation to such autonomous district or region as may be specified in
the notification, as if—
(i) in sub-paragraph (1), for the words ―between the parties all of whom belong to
Scheduled Tribes within such areas, other than suits and cases to which the provisions of
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sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 5 of this Schedule apply,‖, the words ―not being suits and cases of
the nature referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 5 of this Schedule, which the Governor
may specify in this behalf,‖ had been substituted;
(ii) sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) had been omitted;
(iii) in sub-paragraph (4)—
(a) for the words ―A Regional Council or District Council, as the case may be, may with
the previous approval of the Governor make rules regulating‖, the words ―The Governor may
make rules regulating‖ had been substituted; and
(b) for clause (a), the following clause had been substituted, namely:—
―(a) the constitution of village councils and courts, the powers to be exercised by
them under this paragraph and the courts to which appeals from the decisions of
village councils and courts shall lie‖;
(c) for clause (c), the following clause had been substituted, namely:—
―(c) the transfer of appeals and other proceedings pending before the Regional or
District Council or any court constituted by such Council immediately before the date
appointed by the President under sub-paragraph (5);‖, and
(d) in clause (e), for the words, brackets and figures ―sub-paragraphs (1) and (2)‖,
the word, brackets and figures ―sub-paragraph (1) ― had been substituted.‖.
5. In paragraph 5 of the Sixth Schedule, after sub-paragraph (3), the following sub-paragraph shall be
inserted, namely:—
―(4) On and from the date appointed by the President under sub-paragraph (5) of paragraph 4 in
relation to any autonomous district or autonomous region, nothing contained in this paragraph shall,
in its application to that district or region, be deemed to authorise the Governor to confer on the
District Council or Regional Council or on courts constituted by the District Council any of the
powers referred to in sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph.‖.
6. For paragraph 6 of the Sixth Schedule, the following paragraph shall be substituted, namely:—
―6. Powers of the District Council to establish primary schools, etc.—(1) The District Council
for an autonomous district may establish, construct, or manage primary schools, dispensaries,
markets, cattle pounds, ferries, fisheries, roads, road transport and waterways in the district and may,
with the previous approval of the Governor, make regulations for the regulation and control thereof
and, in particular, may prescribe the language and the manner in which primary education shall be
imparted in the primary schools in the district.
(2) The Governor may, with the consent of any District Council entrust either conditionally or
unconditionally to that Council or to its officers functions in relation to agriculture, animal husbandry,
community projects, co-operative societies, social welfare, village planning or any other matter to
which the executive power of the State of Assam or Meghalaya, as the case may be, extends.‖.
7. In paragraph 7 of the Sixth Schedule, for sub-paragraph (2), the following sub-paragraphs shall be
substituted, namely:—
―(2) The Governor may make rules for the management of the District Fund, or, as the case may
be, the Regional Fund and for the procedure to be followed in respect of payment of money into the
said fund, the withdrawal of moneys therefrom, the custody of moneys therein and any other matter
connected with or ancillary to the matters aforesaid.
(3) The accounts of the District Council or, as the case may be, the Regional Council shall be kept
in such form as the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India may, with the approval of the
President, prescribe.
(4) The Comptroller and Auditor-General, shall cause the accounts of the District and Regional
Councils to be audited in such manner as he may think fit, and the reports of the Comptroller and
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Auditor-General relating to such accounts shall be submitted to the Governor who shall cause them to
be laid before the Council.‖
8. In paragraph 8 of the Sixth Schedule, in sub-paragraph (4), the following words shall be inserted at
the end, namely:—
―and every such regulation shall be submitted forthwith to the Governor and, until assented to by him,
shall have no effect.‖
9. After paragraph 12 of the Sixth Schedule, the following paragraph shall be inserted, namely:—
―12A. Special provisions as respects application of laws in Meghalaya.—(1) Notwithstanding
anything contained in paragraph 12,—
(a) if any provision of a law made by a District or Regional Council in Meghalaya with
respect to any of the matters specified in clause (b) or clause (c) of
sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 3 of this Schedule is repugnant to any provision of a law
made by the Legislature of the State of Assam with respect to any project declared by the
Legislature of that State to be of State importance, then, the law made by the District Council
or, as the case may be, the Regional Council, whether made before or after the law made by
the Legislature of the, State of Assam, shall, to the extent of the repugnancy, be void and the
law made by the Legislature of the State of Assam shall prevail;
(b) if any provision of a law made by a District or Regional Council in Meghalaya with
respect to any of the matters specified in clause (b) or clause (c) or clause (f) of
sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 3 of this Schedule is repugnant to any provision of a law
made by the Legislature of Meghalaya with respect to that matter, then, the law made by the
District Council or, as the case may be, the Regional Council, whether made before or after
the law made by the Legislature of Meghalaya shall to the extent of repugnancy, be void and
the law made by the Legislature of Meghalaya shall prevail.
(2) If it appears to two or more District Councils or Regional Councils in Meghalaya to be
desirable that any of the matters with respect to which they have power to make laws under paragraph
3 of this Schedule should be regulated by the Legislature of Meghalaya by law, and if resolutions to
that effect are passed by the said District Councils or Regional Councils, it shall be lawful for the
Legislature of Meghalaya to pass an Act regulating that matter accordingly, and any Act so passed
shall apply to the autonomous districts or regions concerned, and to any other autonomous district or
region the District or Regional Council whereof adopts it afterwards by resolution passed in this
behalf.
(3) Any Act passed by the Legislature of Meghalaya under sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph
may be amended or repealed by an Act of the Legislature of Meghalaya passed in like manner, but
shall not, as respects any autonomous district or region to which it applies, be amended or repealed by
any law made by the District or Regional Council thereof.
(4) The Governor may, with respect to any Act of the Legislature of the State of Assam, and the
President may, with respect to any Act of Parliament, by public notification direct, that it shall not
apply to Meghalaya, or shall apply thereto, or to any part thereof subject to such exceptions or
modifications as he may specify in the notification, and any such direction may be so given as to have
retrospective effect.
(5) The provisions of clause (b) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 12 shall not apply to
Meghalaya.‖
10. In sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 15 of the Sixth Schedule, after the words ―safety of India‖, the
words ―or is likely to be prejudicial to public order‖ shall be inserted.
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11. Paragraph 16 of Sixth Schedule shall be re-numbered as sub-paragraph (1) of that paragraph, and
to that paragraph as so re-numbered the following sub-paragraphs shall be added, namely:—
―(2) If at any time the Governor is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the administration
of an autonomous district or region cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this
Schedule, he may, by public notification, assume to himself all or any of the functions or powers
vested in or exercisable by the District Council or, as the case may be, the Regional Council and
declare that such functions or powers shall be exercisable by such person or authority as he may
specify in this behalf, for a period not exceeding six months:
Provided that the Governor may by a further order or orders extend the operation of the initial
order by a period not exceeding six months on each occasion.
(3) Every order made under sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph with the reasons therefor shall be
laid before the Legislature of the State and shall cease to operate at the expiration of thirty days from
the date on which the State Legislature first sits after the issue of the order, unless, before the expiry
of that period it has been approved by the State Legislature.‖
12. After paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule, the following paragraph shall be inserted, namely:—
―20A. Interpretation.—(1) In this Schedule,—
(a) ―Governor‖, in relation to Meghalaya, means the Governor of Assam acting on
the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers for Meghalaya; except in so far as he is by
or under this Schedule required to exercise his functions in his discretion or to exercise
his powers under sub-paragraph (4) of paragraph 12A;
(b) ―Meghalaya‖ means the autonomous State formed under article 244A.
(2) Subject to any express provision made in this behalf, the provisions of this Schedule
shall, in their application to Meghalaya, have effect—
(i) as if references to the Government of Assam, State of Assam, State and
Legislature of the State were references respectively to the Government of Meghalaya,
the autonomous State of Meghalaya, Meghalaya and the Legislature of Meghalaya;
(ii) as if in paragraph 13, the words and figures ―under article 202‖ had been
omitted