( 1 ) THIS writ petition calls in question the constitutional validity of "andhra Pradesh Rashtra Karshaka Parishad and Allied Bodies Act, betas a. P. Act 7 ot 1987" (as amended by ( Act 17 of 1988) as also the validty of the proceedings dated 16-3-1988 issued by the Competent Authority under the Act, nominating the 4th respondent as President of the "rashtra karshaka Parishad" (RKP)-

( 2 ) THE Act was passed by the Andhra Pradesh Legislature in early 1987 and- received the assent of the Governor on 5-2-1987. It was published in the Gazette ror general information 6-2-1987. Sub-section (2) of Section 1 provided that the Act shall come into force on such date as the Government may by notification, appoint. It has been brought into force with effect from 1-1-3987 by the Notification issued by the Government. On 9-3-1988 the Governor of Andhra Pradesh issued an Ordinance, being Ordinance 5 of 1988 (published in the Gazette on 10-8-1988) amending certain provisions of the Act and mtroducing, inter alia, Section 25-A. Subsequently, the said ordinance has been enacted into Amendment Act 17 of 1988. The present !writ petition was filed on 9-5-1988, and admitted on the next day.

( 3 ) WE shall refer to the provisions of the Act as originally enacted, and then refer to the provisions of the Amendment Act.

( 4 ) ). The Act is made "to provide for the Establishment,of a rashtra karslmka Parishad, Mandala Karshaka Parishads and other Organisations for the Welfare of the Farming Community in the State of Andhra Pradesh". section 2 defines certain expressions occurring in the Act Clause (I) defines "competent-Authority" to mean the Director of Agriculture "and include; any, other officer authorised by the Government" in that behalf, "federation" means a Commodity. Federation constituted for any commodity under s. 7.- Cl (7) defines parishad as meaning a Mandala-Karshaka parishad constituted under S. 11. Cl. (9) defines "rahtra Parishad as meaning the A. P. "rashtra Karshaka Parishad constituted under Sec. 3. The Act provides for constitution of a Mandala Karshaka Parishad (MKP) for each of the Mandals in the State. There are roughly about 1,000 Mandals in the State. All farrners who are owners of agricultural lands and engaged in agriculturaloperations, including tenants, share-croppers, lessee, and cultivators, and those engaged in pisciculture and such other occupations as may be notified from time to time, who. are registered as voters in the Mandal concerned bunder, the Representation of Peoples Act, 1950, shall be the members of the mkp . Each MKP, shall have an Executive Committee consisting of a present and 10 other members to be elected by the members of the MK. P from among themselves in the manner prescribed. The Presidents of the primary Agricultural Co-operative Societies within the Mandal are made-offcio members. The term of the members of the Executive Committee is three years . The MKP shall maintain a Register of all the members of the Parishad separately in respect of each commodity, in the tranner prescribed. . The registration shall be renewed periodically in the manner prescribed. Section 15 specifies the functions, and Section 16 the powers of the MKPs. Section 13 provides that "the members of the Parishad (MKP) registered in respect of each commodity grown in the Mandal shall elect a person from among themselves as a delegate to the concerned Federation, with which the Parishad intends to lederate : provided that no member shall be eligible to represent- the parishad in more than one Federation as a delegate".

( 5 ) ABOVE the MKPs, which constitute the besic tier, come the commodity Federations constituted under Section 7, which provides that the government shall constitute, by notification, "a Commodity Federation for each notified commodity". The general body of a Commodity Federation (CF) consists of elected delegates of all the MKPs wishing to associate with the concerned Federation. They s