Mehinder Singh Sullar, J. - (1.) AS identical questions of law and facts are involved, therefore, I propose to decide the indicated writ petitions pertaining to the same Gram Panchayat, vide this common order, to avoid the repetition. However, the factual matrix, which needs a necessary mention for the limited purpose of deciding the sole controversy involved in these writ petitions, has been extracted from (1) CWP No. 2313 of 2011 titled as Jagtar Singh v. State of Punjab and Anr., in this context.
(2.) THE contour of the facts, culminating in the commencement, relevant for disposal of the present writ petitions and emanating from the record, is that in the wake of General Gram Panchayat election, Petitioners were elected as Panches and Gurjinder Singh was elected as Sarpanch of the Gram Panchayat Ikoloha, Block Khanna, District Ludhiana, in view of the provisions of Punjab Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 (herein after referred to be as "the Act"). The Petitioners claimed that as they opposed the misdeeds of the Sarpanch, therefore, they were illegally removed from their respective posts of Panches on the ground that they did not attend the meetings of the Gram Panchayat on 17.12.2008, 30.12.2008 & 04.03.2009 and on political consideration, by the Director, Rural Development and Panchayat Department, Punjab (Respondent No. 2) (for brevity "the Director"), vide impugned order dated 07.06.2010 (Annexure P3).
(3.) AGGRIEVED by the order (Annexure P3), the appeals filed by the Petitioners were also dismissed as well, by the Financial Commissioner -cum -Principal Secretary Rural Development and Panchayat, Department, Punjab (Respondent No. 1) (Appellate Authority), by means of impugned order dated 12.07.2010 (Annexure P8);