The de facto doctrine validates the acts of officers who have the reputation of being the officer they assume to be, even if they are not such in point of law.

CHINNAPPA REDDY, J.

( 1 ) THE petitioners are merchants of Anakapalli. They have been making persistent efforts to thwart the levy of fees by the Anakapalli Market Committee. This writ petition is one such attempt. They object to the levy of fees on two grounds : (1) Section 12 of Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Produce and Livestock Markets Act, 1966 is ultra vires in so far as it authorises the levy of fees on transactions taking place outside the market established by the Market Committee, though within the notified market area. (2) The notification declaring the notified market area is invalid as the condition precedent to the declaration was not fulfilled.

( 2 ) THE Government of Andhra Pradesh, purporting to set under Section 5 (1) (i) of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Produce and Livestock Markets Act, by G. O. Respondent. NO. 899 dated 11-7-1969, nominated nine persons to represent the growers of agricultural produce and owners of livestock on the Agricultural Market Committee of Anakapalli. The nomination of those nine persons was set aside by Narasimham, C. J. , and Kuppuswamy, J. , in W. P. No. 1256/70 (Andh Pra) on the ground that there was no consultation with the Director of Marketing as contemplated by Section 5 (1) (i) of the Act. The Judgment of the High Court was pronounced on 27-7-1971. In the interregnum the Market Committee had functioned as if it had been properly constituted. Several acts had been done, notifications issued and proceedings taken by the Committee. We may mention here that the total number of members of the Anakapalli Market Committee is sixteen and the quorum for a meeting of the Market Committee of sixteen members is nine under Rule 29 of the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Produce and Livestock Markets Act 1969. Without the participation of some at least nine of the member representing the growers of agricultural produce and owners of livestock there could never be a meeting of the Anakapalli Agricultural Market Committee as the total number of the remaining members was only seven. Without the participation of those members no action could have been taken by the committee under any of the provisions of the Act. One of the notification issued by the Market Committee was that declaring the limits of the Anakapalli Market under Section 4 (3) (c) of the Act. The notification was published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette Part II dated 5-3-1970 at page 249. By this Notification the entire area within the limits of Anakapalli Municipality was declared to be market area of Anakapalli market. The notification by the Market Committee was followed up by a notification by the Government under Section 4 (4) of the Act. , declaring the area within the radius of 29 kilometers around the office of the Agricultural Market Committee, Anakapalli as the notified market area. A result of the notification by the Government was that the Market Committee was thereafter enabled to levy fee on any notified agricultural produce, livestock or products of livestock purchased or sold in the market area. It is the levy of this fee that is questioned in the application for the issue of a writ.

( 3 ) THE first submission of Sri Babul Reddy learned counsel for the petitioners was that Section 12 of the Act which authorised the levy of fees was ultra vires to the extent of the transactions carried on outside the limits of the market area, but within the limits of the notified market area. According to him, the Act did not contemplate the rendering of any services in respect of transactions carried on beyond the limit of the markets and, therefore, no fees was leviable. We do not agree with this submission. According to the scheme of the Act, the Government first notifies an area as a notified area under Section 3 of the Act. Thereafter the Government constitutes a Market Committee for the notified area. The Market Committee then establishes in the notified area such number of markets as directed by the Government. Under Section 4

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