The exercise of discretion conferred by law is not a fiat or whim. It cannot be either arbitrary or capricious. It must appear to have been done fairly as fairness is the essence of all executive actions.

P. S. MISHRA, C. J. :, J.

( 1 ) 1. Pending writ petition questioning the selection and appointment of person-in- charge in place of the elected managing committee for a Cooperative Society, learned single Judge stayed the Government direction and ordered status quo which amounted to continuance of the District Collector who had, until then, been holding the Office of the person-in-charge, until the disposal of the writ petition. A petition to vacate the stay has been filed and the learned single Judge has disposed of the same by the following order:"he also claimed that there is possibility oftheperson-in-charge, who is the District collector, being replaced by some party member, which may affect the conduct of the elections. As the writ petition was admitted and status quo was ordered, the Government filed petition to vacate the interim order and it is pointed out by the learned government Pleader that the District collector is unable to pay his undivided attention to the matter, as he is otherwise very much pre-occupied with more urgent matters. In these circumstances, I am satisfied that the appointment of the person-in- charge is purely an administrative matter, it should not be stayed. Hence, I vacate the interim order of status quo, and permit the Government to appoint an appropriate person-in-charge. At the same time, it cannot be said that the excuse given for not holding the elections for the Federation is unacceptable. In these circumstances, there should be a direction to the respondents to hold elections for the Federation as soon as possible, in any case, within three months from the date of receipt of copy of this order. "facts leading to the petition before this Court suggest that there have been several postponements of the election to the Primary societies and finally the Federation and there are enough suggestions that all this has been done only to help elected the supporters of the political party in power in the State. The petitioner has stated that the elections to the primary Societies to an extent of 90% are over and "it is only with the ulterior motives the elections to the Union in Nellore District alone are postponed" and alleged further"with a view to pressurise the elected presidents of primary societies, some presidents who are in minority and who are being supported by the party in power are trying to replace the District Collector, nellore as person-in-charge ofthe union and get themselves nominated as person-in- charge of the union. In case the elections of the union are not conducted immediately and the District Collector is replaced by nominating the supporters of the party in power, it will be a great blow to the cooperative movement and democratic process. As stated above the elections to the 90% of the Primary Milk Producers Co-operative societies are over and there is no emergency or any law and order situation in the District. "it has transpired that the nomination of Sri m. Gopala Krishna Chowdary as person- in-charge, Nellore District Cooperative Milk producers Union Limited was already in offer even before the filing of the writ petition and the District Collector continued to function only because this Court passed an order to maintain status quo. As a consequence of the vacation of the order of stay by the impugned order, the Collector is replaced by the seventh respondent Sri m. Gopala Krishna Chowdary. Sri chowdary, it is conceded, is a member of the ruling party of the State.

( 2 ) POWER to nominate, in the absence of an elected body, a person-in-charge is conferred by law upon the Registrar, cooperative Societies and the Government of the State. Although any person can be so nominated and there may not be any impediment in nominating seventh respondent, generally speaking, one must not forget that exercise of discretion conferred by law is not a fiat or whim. It cannot be either arbitrary or capricious. It must appear to have been done fairly as fairness is the essence of all exe

Click Here to Read the rest of this document