JUDGMENT :

S.G.Chattopadhyay, J.

1. Petitioners, who are the elected members of Bokafa Panchayat Samiti in South Tripura District, have challenged the order dated 27.03.2020 passed by the District Magistrate and Collector of South Tripura District[Respondent No.2] in purported exercise of powers under sub-section(3) of Section 76 of the Tripura Panchayats Act, 1993 declaring that the petitioners earned disqualification under clause(b) of sub-section(1) of Section 76 of the Act for voting in the Panchayat Samiti meeting held on 11.02.2020 contrary to the direction of the party.

2. The said petitioners were elected as members of Bokafa Panchayat Samiti in South Tripura from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Panchayat Samiti election held in 2019. The said Panchayat Samity consisted of 9 elected members. Other than the petitioners, respondent No.7 and proforma respondent no 9, 10 & 11 were the other elected members of the Panchayat Samiti. After their election as members of Bokafa Panchayat Samiti from the same political party they elected Respondent No. 11 Sridam Das as Chairman and Respondent No.7 Sri Avijit Mitra as Vice-Chairman of the said Panchayat Samiti. Performance of the Chai