Bharat Sudambhai Patel vs State Of Gujarat on 6 November, 2020
29.15 In the case of Tarlochan Dev Sharma (supra), the Apex Court
referred to the judgment in the case of Anirudhusinhji Jadeja (supra),
wherein it has been held that a statutory authority vested with
jurisdiction must exercise it according to its own discretion; discretion
exercised under the directions or instruction of some higher authority is
failure to exercise discretion altogether. Executive Officers may in
exercise of their statutory discretions take into account considerations of
public policy and in some context policy of a minister or the government
as a whole when it is relevant, being a relevant factor in weighing the
policy, but they are not absolved from their duty to exercise their
personal judgment in individual cases, unless explicit statutory provision
has been made for instructions by a superior to bind them. Relevant
extracts of paragraphs 15 and 16 read thus: