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3.8 Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Interpellation of President of Village Panchayat by the Members) Rules, 1999 (G.O. (Ms) No. 33 Rural Development (C4) Department, dated 15th February 1999) In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (v) of sub-section (2) of Section 242 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 21 of 1994), and in supersession of the Rules relating to Interpellation of President by the Members of Panchayats, the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby makes the following Rules - RULES
1. Short title - These Rules may be called the Tamil Nadu Panchayats (Interpellation of President of Village Panchayat by the Members) Rules, 1999.
2. Restriction on question - No question shall be asked or answered at a meeting of a Panchayat as to any matter not concerned with the Village Panchayat administration and no question shall be asked except as to matters of fact and the answer shall be confined to a statement of facts. Except as thus provided, any question may be asked by any member of a Village Panchayat subject to the conditions and restrictions specified in these Rules.
3. Notice as questions - A member of a Village Panchayat who wishes to ask a question shall intimate his intention in writing to the President by giving ten clear days notice and such notice shall contain a copy of the question he wishes to ask.
4. Admissible questions - In order that a question may be admissible, it shall satisfy the following conditions, namely -
(i) it shall be related to the administration of the Village Panchayat and that also be based on facts;
(ii) it shall not relate to any name or statement not strictly necessary to make the question intelligible.
(iii) if a question contains a statement, the member asking it shall make himself responsible for the accurancy of the statement;
(iv) it shall not contain arguments, inferences, ironical expressions or defamatory statements;
(v) it shall not ask for an expression of opinion or the solution of an abstract legal question of a hypothetical proposition;
(vi) it shall not be asked as to the character or conduct of any person except in his official or public capacity;
(vii) it shall not be of excessive in length; and
(viii) a question once fully answered may not be asked again.
5. Decision as to admissibility of questions- The President shall decide on the admissibility of a question and either allow or disallow it before the date fixed for the next meeting for which it may be in time under Rule 3. He may disallow any question, if in his opinion, it is an abuse of the right of questioning or where in his opinion it cannot be answered consistently in the public interest and shall disallow any question which in his opinion, contravenes any of these Rules; and in such case the question shall not be entered in the proceedings of the Village Panchayat.
6. Agenda - Questions allowed by the President shall be entered in the Agenda and the President shall answer every question so entered, if not previously withdrawn by the member putting it, in the order in which it stands in the paper, before any business is entered upon at the meeting:
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Provided that the President may, at his discretion, on the ground of public interest, answer a question on the Agenda, eventhough the question may have been withdrawn.
7. Supplementary questions - Any member may put a supplementary question for the purpose of further elucidating any matter of fact regarding which an answer has been given:
Provided that the President shall disallow any supplementary question if, in his opinion, it infringes the Rules as to the subject matter of questions and does not conform to the conditions specified under Rule 4:
Provided further that he may decline to answer a supplementary question without notice, in which case it may be put only in the form of a fresh question at a subsequent meeting of the Village Panchayat.
8. Bar on discussion of answered questions - No discussion shall be permitted in respect of any question or of any answer given to a question, asked under these Rules.
9. Minutes - The question asked and the answer given to it shall be entered in the Minutes of the Village Panchayat.
RAMESH CHANDRA PANDA SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT
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