(1) The Commission shall meet regularly at its office at Delhi at such time as the Chairperson thinks fit, but three months shall not intervene between its last meeting and the next meeting.
(2) The Commission shall ordinarily hold its meetings in its office located in Delhi but may, in its discretion, hold its meetings at any other place in India if it considers it necessary or expedient to do SO.
(3) Secretariat assistance: The Member-Secretary, along with such officers as the Chairperson may direct, shall attend the meetings of the Commission.
(4) (i) The Member-Secretary shall, in consultation with the Chairperson, prepare the agenda for each meeting of the Commission and shall have notes prepared by the Secretariat and such notes shall, as far as possible, be self-contained;
I8 [WIT II—ous 3 %iTT-ff : 37FRITTaT 19
(ii) The records covering the agenda items shall be made readily available to the Commission for its reference;
(iii) The agenda papers shall ordinarily be circulated to members at least two clear working days in advance of the meeting, except in cases when urgent attention is required.
(5) Four members including the Chairperson shall form the . quorum at every meeting of the Commission.
(6) All decisions of the Commission at its meetings shall be taken by majority:
Provided that in the case of equality of votes, the Chairperson, or in his absence the person presiding shall have and exercise a second or a casting vote.
(7) for any reason, the Chairperson is unable to attend the meeting of the Commission, any Member chosen by the Members present from amongst themselves at the meeting, shall preside.
19. Minutes of the meeting: (1) The minutes of each meeting of the Commission shall be recor:Ied during the meeting itself or immediately thereafter by the Member-Secretary or by any other officer of the Commission as directed.
(2) The minutes of meeting of the Commission shall be submitted to the Chairperson for approval and, upon approval, be circulated to all members of the Commission at the earliest and in any case, sufficiently before the commencement of the next meeting.
(3) The conclusions of the Commission in every matter undertaken by it shall be recorded in the form of an opinion and dissenting opinions, if given, shall also form part of and be kept on record. Action shall be taken on the basis of majority opinion where there is any difference of opinion.
(4) All orders and decision; Of the Commission shall be authenticated by the Member-Secretary or any other officer of the Commission duly authorized by the Member-Secretary with the prior approval of the Chairperson in this behalf.
(5) Unless specifloally authorized, no action shall be taken by the Secretariat of the Commission on the minutes of the meetings until the Chairperson confirms the same.
(6) A master copy of the record of all meetings and opinions of the Commission shall be maintained duly authenticated by the Member-Secretary.
(7) A copy of the minutes pertaining to each item shall be kept in the respective files for appropriate action. Opinions shall be kept in respective records and for convenience, copies thereof with appropriate indexing shall be kept in guard files.
20. Report of Action Taken: Report of the follow up action shall be submitted by the Member Secretary to the Commission at every subsequent meeting indicating therein the present stage of action taken on each item on which the Commission had taken any decision in any of its earlier meetings., excepting the items on which no further action is called for.
P33.1106-11 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA : EXTRAORDINARY [PART U—Sac.
21. Transaction of business outside headquarters: The Commission or some members may transact business at places outside its headquarters as and when previously approved by the Chairperson, provided that if parties are to be heard in connection with any inquiry under the Act, at least two members shall constitute the bench of the Commission for such purpose.
22. Panel of consultants: (1) The Commission may constitute a panel of consultants for assisting the Commission in a wide range of tasks such as investigation or inquiry; to serve on task forces or Committees and for research and analysis.
(2) The Commission may draw on experts from academic, research, administrative, investigative, legal or civil, society groups to form the panel.
(3) The Commission may devise a transparent process for the empanelling these consultants so that they are available for quick delegation of tasks.
23. Annual report: (1) The Commission shall prepare and publish an annual report before the 31' December every year for submission to the Central Government.
(2) The Commission shall also prepare special reports on specific issues as and when necessary under the direction of the Chairperson.
(3) The Central Government shall cause the annual report and the special reports of the Commission to be laid before each House of Parliament.
(4) The annual report shall include information on administrative and financial matters; complaints investigatedkinquired into; action taken on cases; details of research; reviews; education and promotion efforts; consultations; details and specific recommendations of the Commission on any matter , besides any other matter that the Commission may consider warranting inclusion in the report.
(5) In case the Commission considers that there could be a time lag for the preparation of the annual report, it may prepare and submit a special report to the Central Government.
(6) The forms in which the budget may be prepared and provided and forwarded to the Central Government shall be as provided in forms I, H, III and IV of Schedule I.
(7) The estimated receipts and expenditure shall be accompanied by the revised budget estimates for the relevant financial year.
(8) The budget shall, as far as may be, based on the account heads specified in Schedule II.