(l ) A society may, for the purpose of election of members to i ts committee divide i ts membership into different groups on a terri torial or any other basis to be specified in i ts bye-laws :
Provided that where the membership is so divided, provision shall be made for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and women, as laid down in Section 48 and Section 52 -B of the Act.
(2) The bye-laws of such a society may specify the number or proportion of the members of the committee who may be elected to represent 33 each such group on the committee and may specify further that such representatives may be elected—
(a) by all the members of the society; or
(b) by only that part icular group of members of the society to which such representatives belong.
41. Procedure for election of members of the committee --(1)(a) Subject to the provis ions of sub -section (6) of Section 49 the election the committee shall be held in the annual general meeting or special general meeting, as the case may be, of the society:
Provided that where in the byelaws of any Central or Apex So ciety, there is a provision for suo motu formation of committee by the representatives of i ts affi l iated societies, the provisions of the sub -rules (2) to (24) of Rule 41 shall not apply.
(b) such election shall take place after al l other matters, include d in the agenda, have been considered.
(2) Not less than ten days before the date fixed for the 3[annual general meeting or the special general meeting of a society, as the case may be] the Returning Officer shall paste a notice on the notice board of the society, stat ing—
(a) the number of members to be elected;
(a-1) (Omitted)
(b) the last date for making nominations, which shall not be later than seven days before the date fixed for holding the said meeting, the hours between which, the place at which and the person to whom nomination papers shall be presented;
(c) The date on which, the place at which and hours between which security of nomination papers shall be made and the date and p lace of poll ing, if necessary.
(d) the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures.
(d-1) the date for co -option against vacant seats of commi ttee members , if any.
(e) the date for election of Chairman/President, Vice -Chairman/ Vice- President and representatives to be sent to other societies and such other officers as specified in byelaws.
(3) Every nomination paper shall be signed by two members of the group, if any, of the society to which they belong, as proposer and seconder, and the candidate of that group shall sign a declaration on i t expressing his will ingness to stand for election:
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Provided that where the number of members or voters in a group is less than seven the nomination paper shall be signed by only one member of the group.
(4) A member of a group, if any, may sign as proposer or seconder as many nomination papers as there are vacancies to be fi l led in the group. Each candidate shall be nominated by a separate nomination paper.
(5) If a candidate fi les more than one nomination paper for any post , then all the nomination papers shall be scrutinized by the Returning Officer, and the candidate shall be enti t led to contest the election on the basis of any valid nomination paper.
(6) Each candidate, ei ther personally or through his proposer or seconder, shall deliver a nomination paper in Form G to the pers on specified under clause (b) of sub-rule (2).
(7) The person to whom the nomination paper is to be delivered shall on receiving the nomination paper, enter thereon the serial number of i ts receipt and shall endorse thereon the date on which and the t ime at which the nomination paper was delivered to him. He shall acknowledge receipt of the nomination paper. He shall also enter the name of the proposer, seconder and the candidate and the office which the candidate seeks to contest in a register in the order in which nomination papers are received. When any person has signed as proposer or /and seconder, on a larger number of nomination papers than vacancies are to be fi l led, those of the papers so signed which have been first received upto the number of the vacancies to be fi l led shall only be deemed to be valid.
(7-A) On presentation of nomination paper, the Returning Officer or the person authorised by him under clause (b) of sub -rule (2) shall satisfy himself that the name of the society and i ts registrati on number and the names and serial numbers in the l ist of members of the candidate and his proposer and seconder as entered in the nomination paper are the same as those entered in the l ist of members:
Provided that no misnomer or inaccurate description o r clerical , technical or printing error in regard to the name of the candidate or his proposer seconder or in regard to any place mentioned in the l ist of members or the nomination paper and no clerical , technical or printing error in regard to the l ist of members, serial number of any such person in the l ist of members or the nomination paper shal l affect the full operation of the l ist of members or the nomination paper with respect to such person or place in any case where the description in regard to the name of the person or place is such as to be commonly understood, and the Returning Officer or the person authorised by him shall permit any such misnomer or inaccurate description or clerical , technical or printing error to be corrected and where necessa ry, direct that any such misnomer, inaccurate description clerical , technical or printing error in 35 the l ist of members or in the nomination paper shall be overlooked. Further that if there are any blanks in the nomination paper the Returning Officer or the person receiving the nomination paper shall get such blanks fi l led in before recording his endorsement on the same.
(8) No nomination paper shall be received af ter the date and t ime f ixed under Clause (b) of sub -rule (2). The person authorised to receive nomination papers shall on each day prepare a l ist of candidates alongwith their proposers, seconders and offices and exhibit the same on the notice board at the place fixed for receipt of nominations.
(9)(a) Nomination papers duly received shall be scruti nized by the Returning Officer on the date fixed for the scrutiny under clause (c) of sub -rule
(2);
(b) It shall be open to the persons fi l l ing the nomination paper to be present at the t ime of scrutiny;
(c) The Returning Off icer shall not reject any nomination paper on the ground of any defect which is not of a material character nor shall i t be rejected on the ground of any irregulari ty in respect of a nomination form, if the candidate has been duly nominated by means of another nomination form, in respect of which no irregulari ty has been committed;
(d) The Returning Off icer shall for reasons to be recorded in writ ing, reject a nomination paper only on the following grounds : —
(i) if the nomination paper is not in accordance with the preceding sub - rules;
( i i) if the candidate is dis -qualified to be elected or proposer/seconder is dis-qualified to vote by or under the Act, rule s or bye-laws of the society;
(e) The Returning Officer shall prepare a l ist of valid nominations. If in the l ist more than one nomination papers are found valid for one post , then first valid nomination of the candidate shal l be accepted and he will sign the l ist in token of i ts correctness and shall publish and affix on t he notice board of the society.
(10) Any candidate may withdraw his candidature by notice in writ ing, subscribed by him and delivered either in person by the candidate or his proposer or seconder to the Returning Officer, on or before the date fixed under clause (d) of sub-rule (2). A candidate who has withdrawn his candidature shall not be allowed to cancel his withdrawal.
(11) On completion of the scrutiny of the nominations (10), the Returning Officer shall prepare a l ist of candidates whose nominations are in order and who have not withdrawn their candidatur e and cause i t to be published on the notice board of the society.
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(12) If the number of duly nominated candidates fo r election as committee members i s equal to or less than the number of seats to he fi l led, the Returning Officer shall declare all of them elected and shall intimate this fact to the society.
(13) If the number of committee members, so elected falls short of the number of seats specified in the election notice for committee member, the committee members shall f i l l up the remaining seats by co-option in a meeting to be presided over by the Returning Officer:
Provided that , if the number of members elected falls short of the quorum fixed for the meeting of the commit tee in the bye -laws, co-option shall not be made and the election process shall be started afresh for the remaining seats.
(14)(a) If the number of duly nominated candidates is greater than the number of members to be elected, immediately after the expiry of the period within which candidature could be withdrawn under clause (d) o f sub-rule (2), the Returning Officer shall prepare and publish in Form -I, a l ist of contesting candidates whose nomination papers have been finally accepted and who have not withdrawn their candidature during the specified period.
(b) The l ist referred to in clause (a) shall contain the names of contesting candidates in alphabetical order in Hindi alongwith their addresses as given in nomination papers.
(c) The l ist of contesting candidates referred to in clause (a) shall contain the particulars set out i n Form-I and shall be prepared in Hindi in Dev Nagari Script .
(d) The alphabetical order referred in clause (b) shall be determined with reference to surname of the candidates having surnames and to the names proper in the case of other candidates.:
(e) Where a poll becomes necessary, the Returning Officer shall assign to each candidate 8[a symbol in serial order as l isted below and the symbol shall be printed on the ballot paper—
(1) Flower (2) Bullock (3) Sword
(4) Two leaves (5) Scales (6) Box
(7) Lion (8) Bullock cart (9) Chair
(10) Hut (11) Bird. (12) Match Box
(13) Tree (14) Book (15)Television
(16) Fish (17) Buffalow (18) Deer
(19) Bear (20) Well (21) Pump
(22) Telephone (23) Motor (24) Cycle 37
(25) Aeroplane (26) Engine (27) Boat
(28) Fountain pen (29) Wall Clock (30) Ring.
(f) If the l ist of the symbols in clause (e) is exhausted, the Returning Officer may in his discretion allot to the candidate concerned any symbol other than those specif ied in the l ist :
Provided that no symbol allotted to any poli t ical party of the State by the Election Commissioner shall be allotted to any candidate;
(g) The symbols allotted to the contesting candidates of any group shall be printed on the ballot paper s, meant for the group. The ballot paper shall show only the name of office for which the vote is being cast the names and the symbols of contesting candidates in the group in the same serial order as displayed in Form I by the Returning Officer on the not ice board of the Society under clause (j ) of sub-rule (14) of Rule 41;
(h) The l ist of names of the contesting candidates for any group and the symbols allotted to each of them in the same serial order as mentioned in clause
(g) of Rule 14 shall be displayed before the ballot box kept for casting of votes of the group concerned. Such l ist shall also be displayed on the gate of the Poll ing Booth and a copy thereof shall be given to each of the contesting candidates.
( i) The allotment of any symbol by the Re turning Officer to a candidate shall be final .
( j ) The Returning Officer shall immediately after preparation of the l ist of contesting candidates cause to be displayed a copy there of on the notice board of the society and shall also supply a copy thereof each of the contesting candidates.
(15) If the general meeting is adjourned for want of quorum, the l ist of duly nominated candidates shall hold good for the pol l to be held in the adjourned general meeting.
(16) The Returning Officer shall appoint as many poll ing officers to conduct the pol l and as many tellers to count the votes as may be necessary.
(17) A register shall be kept at the place of the meeting and every member that at tends the meeting shall sign in such register before he ent ers the place of the meeting.
(18) The Poll ing Officer shall issue to each voter a ballot affixing the seal of the society and putt ing his init ials on the right hand side of i t after marking a mark by indelible ink on the t ip of the forefinger of the voter.
(19) Canvassing or solicit ing votes during the conduct of elections shall be strict ly prohibited within the periphery of one hundred metres of the place where the poll is being held.
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(20) The Returning Officer shall show the empty ballot boxes to the candidates, if any present, close and seal them leaving open the sl i t for insert ion of ballot papers. Voting shall be by ballot and voters shall make a mark x on or against the symbols of candidates whom he wishes to elect , fold the ballot papers and deposit i t in the b allot box. In the case of physically disabled who requires help, the Returning Officer shall help in marking marks on the symbols of the candidates according to the desire of such voter.
(21) The Returning Officer shall before taking the poll f ix the hours which shall not be less than two hours during which the poll will be taken, make announcement to the effect in the general meeting and on the expiry of the hours so fixed he shall close the poll . Those voters, who though present at the place have not been able to vote for want of t ime, shall be given reasonable opportunity to obtain ballot papers and vote even though the t ime fixed for the poll has expired. After the closure of the poll , the sl i t of the ballot boxes shall be closed and sealed and delivered to the tel lers. An account of used and un - used ballot papers shall be prepared and counter foils of used ballot papers, unused ballot papers and marked copy of voter l ist shall be put in an envelope and sealed kept in the box referred to in sub-rule (24) .
(22) Tellers shall arrange all ballot papers —
(a) They shall reject a ballot paper after obtaining the approval of the Returning Officer—
(i) if i t bears signature to identify the voter;
( i i) if i t does not bear the seal of the society or the init ials of Poll ing Officer;
( i i i) if i t contains no mark indicating a vote;
( iv) if i t contains more marks than the number of seats to be fi l led.
(b) A mark made in a ballot paper in such a manner that i t is ambiguous to which candidate the vote is given shall be rejected:
Provided that other correctly made marks, if any, on such b allot paper shall be counted.
(23)(a) Soon after the counting of votes is over, the Returning Officer shall prepare and cert i fy a return sett ing forth - ( i) the number of valid votes given to each candidates; and ( i i) the number of ballot papers declared to be invalid or rejected.
(b) On the basis of the said return the candidates who have secured the largest number of votes shall he declared elected by the Returning Officer at the general meeting and their names publ ished on the notice board of the society under his signature.
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(c) In case of equali ty of votes polled by two or more candidates, the lots shall be drawn in such manner as the returning officer may fix to determine the name or names of the successful candidate or candidates.]
(d) The names of the candidates elected or co -opted, as the case may be, under sub-rules (12) and (13) and a copy of the cert if ied return prepared under clause (a) above, shall be submitted by the Returning Officer to the Registrar forthwith.
(24) The Returning Officer shall arrange to keep nomination papers and the Registers, referred to in sub -rules (7) and (17), the ballot papers and the return of election in safe custody in a sealed box with the Registrar or a person authorised by him in this regard. These records shall not be destroyed t i l l the next elections of the society are held or t i l l the final disposal of the election dispute fi led under sub-section (v) of Section 64, if any. The Registra r shall thereafter cause them to be destroyed in his presence or in the presence of an officer authorised for this purpose.
(25) Every member of the committee and every employee of the society shall be bound to render every assistance to the Returning Offi cer, Poll ing Officer and Tellers in the conduct of elections and shall make available every record that may be required by the Returning Officer for this purpose. The society shall arrange to provide ballot boxes, locks and keys, sealing wax, tape, ballot papers, printed or typed or handwrit ten, and the stationery necessary for the conduct of election to the Returning Officer. All expenditure incurred in connection with such election shall be paid by the society.
(26) For the purposes of this rule the „Ret urning Officer‟ means an officer appointed by the Registrar by general or special order or appointed by the committee from amongst the members of the society, as per second proviso of sub-section (8) of Section 49, for performing the duties of a Returning Officer under the provisions of t he Act and Rules thereunder.
(27) If the Returning Officer is appointed by the Committee of the society, then informat ion of such appointment shall be sent to the Registrar in writ ing within 7 days from the date of such appointment.
42. (Omitted)