Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 state has made many initiatives in the process of decentralization of powers. Creation of a tribunal

Tribunal

A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....

 for adjudication of conflicts

Controversy

Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...

 between local governments and the citizens is an initiative of that sort.

Creation of the tribunal in Kerala

The Government of Kerala

Government of Kerala

The Government of Kerala is a democratically elected body that governs the State of Kerala, India for a period of 5 years. The state government is headed by the Governor of Kerala as the nominal head of state, with a democratically elected Chief Minister as real head of the executive. The state...

 constituted the Tribunal for Local Self Government Institutions to hear appeals and revisions as per the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act 1994 and the Kerala Municipality Act 1994 as per G.O. 52/04/LSGD dt. 5.2.2004,. The headquarters of the Tribunal is at Thiruvananthapuram. It has jurisdiction over the 14 districts. The permanent office of the Tribunal is in the Rehabilitation Building of TRIDA, Thiruvananthapuram. The tribunal sits on working days.

Who can submit petitions

Any person aggrieved can submit an appeal

Appeal

An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....

 or revision

Revision

Revision is the process of revising.More specifically, it may refer to:* Update, a modification of software or a database* Revision control, the management of changes to sets of computer files* Belief revision...

 against a notice order or proceedings of the Village Panchayat or Municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 or its Standing Committee for Finance or the Secretary in respect of any matter specified in the schedule appended to the Tribunal for Kerala Local self Government Institutions rules or added to the said schedule by the Government from time to time by notification. If the concerned Village Panchayat or the Municipality

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

or the Standing Committee for Finance or the Secretary has not taken decision within the prescribed time limit in cases where time limit has been prescribed in the Panchayat act or the Municipality Act or in the Rules, the affected party may in this respect, one can file appeal before the Tribunal.

Mode of submission of petitions

The Appeal/Revision against the notice/order by the President/chairman or the Secretary of the Grama Panchayat/Municipality/Corporation or against the decision of the Panchayat Committee, Municipal Council or Corporation Council shall be filed in form ‘C’ of the Tribunal Rules. Appeal/Revision against levy of tax Appeal/Revision shall be filed after remitting the tax demanded in the demand notice. Original/certified copy of the impugned order/notice/decision shall be produced along with Appeal. Petition fee of Rs. 50/- has to be remitted in cash or by way of D.D. of any of the Nationalized or Scheduled bank drawn in favour of the Tribunal for Local Self Government Institutions. Court fee stamp of Rs. 50/- shall be affixed in the Appeal/Revision Petition towards Legal Benefit Found. The petitioner shall furnish to the Tribunal an attested copy each of the petition and of the connected documents also along with every petition submitted before the Tribunal and in addition shall also submit as many attested copies thereof as the number of counter petitioners. The petitioner shall remit Fifty rupees as fee in the Office of the Tribunal or enclose along with the petition a bank draft for the same amount payable at any bank at the Headquarters of the Tribunal. The petitioner may submit petition before the Tribunal direct or by registered post.
Appeal/Revision can be filed either in person (before 3 P.M. on working days) or through registered post to the Tribunal for Local Self Government Institutions, Rehabilitation Block, TRIDA Building, Medical College P.O., Thiruvananthapuram - 695011
Sufficient number of certified copies of the Appeal/Revision and the documents produced along with the Appeal shall be produced with cover and stamp for issuing registered notice to the Respondents.

Orders of the tribunal

The copies of orders of the Tribunal shall be issued to the parties on application. No Court fee is required for the application. Copies can be collected from the office during office hours either in person or through authorised representative. Orders will be issued strictly on date wise seniority basis. After the disposal of the case, on application, all the documents produced in connection with the Appeal/Revision shall be returned to the concerned parties.