Dеwey L. Watkins filed his bill of complaint in the Chancery Court of Scott County, Mississippi, seeking injunctive relief against the Mississippi State Board of Veterinary Examiners on the ground that thеy had arbitrarily and willfully abused their discretion in refusing *341 to award him a license for the practice of veterinary medicine, surgery and dentistry. Prom a decree of the lowеr court granting the injunctive relief and mandatorily enjoining the Mississippi State Board of Veterinary Examiners to grant him such license, the Board appeals here.
Chapter 371 of the Laws of Mississippi of 1946 provides for the regulation of the practice of veterinary med-cine, veterinary surgery and veterinary dentistry, provides for a Bоard of Examiners and their duties and qualifications and provides a method for the granting of licenses to practice veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery and veterinary dentistry. The Act was approved on April 4, 1946.
Section 6 of this Act reads as follows:
“ All persons who are not already licensed under the laws of Mississippi to practice veterinary medicine, vetеrinary surgery, and veterinary dentistry in this state prior to the passage of this act shall he required to take an examination and pay a fee of twenty-five dollars therеfor when applying for permission to take the examination. Said fee shall not he returned to applicant whether or not he passes the examination. Prоvided, however, that any person who has practiced veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery and veterinary dentistry in this state for a period of ten years prior to the passage of this act shall be granted a license upon his application therefor and upon satisfactory evidence furnished the board as to such practice, and of his good moral character, and payment to the board of a license fee of ten ($10.00) dollars.”
At the time of the passage of'this act of 1946, Chapter 13 of the Code of 1942, Title 32, was in effect and therein was embraced the provisions of Chapter 130 of the Laws of 1914, which also provided for the regulation of the practice of veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery and veterinary dentistry in this state. Section 8917 of the Code of 1942 required an examination before a license to practice should issue to an applicant. Section 8922 *342 made it unlawful to practice veterinary surgery, medicine and dentistry in this state without first having complied with all of the provisions of Chapter 130 of the Laws of 1914. This Code Section reads as follows:
“Any person who practice's or attempts to practice veterinary surgery, medicine or dentistry in this state without first having complied with all the provision of this chapter, shall for each and every offense be guilty of a misdemeanоr and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than two hundred dollars.”
In passing let it be noted that Chapter 371 is complete in itself. It is nоt an amendment of Chapter 130 of the Laws of 1914, but this act is a new act completely occupying the field of the subject matter and by the provision of Section 13 thеreof all of the above mentioned Code sections and Chapter 130 of the Laws of 1914 were repealed.
At the first annual meeting of the new board set up under the Acts of 1946, Mr. Watkins made application for a license to practice under the provisions of the latter part of Section 6, which is set out above. He filed his application with the Board and supported it by the affidavit of reputable citizens of his community to the effect that he is a man of good moral character and had been practicing veterinary medicine, dentistry and surgery in the state for a period of more than ten years prior to the passage of the Act of 1946. At the June meeting the Board took no action upon his application but continued it until the annual meeting in June 1947. At that meeting Mr. Watkins appeared before the Bоard with his attorney and there renewed his request that a license be issued to him to practice in this state. This application was supported by new and additional affidavits presented at that time. The Board heard Mr. Watkins and his attorney and there was no evidence introduced showing or tending to show that Mr. Watkins was not of good moral character or that he had not practiced for a period of more than ten years in this Stgle, The Board, however, *343 again declined to take any action on his application, bnt suggested that they desired to make an investigation.
On July 28, 1947, Mr. Watkins filed an application for a writ of mandamus to compel action by the Boаrd upon his application for a license. They then started an investigation, but it is admitted that the facts ascertained by them on this investigation were not considered by them in their subsequent order denying the granting of a license to him. The day before the mandamus was heard the Board met and denied the application. This order was introducеd on the hearing of the mandamus petition and the Board having acted the Court dismissed the petition. It was then that Mr. Watkins filed this suit in the Chancery Court praying for injunctive relief.
The Bоard takes the position that the ‘ ‘ grandfather” clause contained in Section 6 in providing that any person who has practiced veterinary medicine, veterinary surgery and veterinary dentistry in this state for a period of ten years prior to the passage of the act shall be granted a license upon his applicatiоn therefor and upon satisfactory evidence furnished the Board as to such practice and of his good moral character must have read into it the word “lawful” showing that such practice had been a lawful practice instead of an unlawful one. They contend that Mr. Watkins during the ten years of his practice had been сonstantly violating the provisions of Section 8922, and consequently is not entitled to a license. We cannot agree with this contention.
It is a well established rule in this state that a power in the courts to supervise the discretion of executive bodies legislatively created with power to act has never been maintained wherе the action complained of was within the scope of the powers vested in them, and where the exercise of such powers by the Board was a reasonable exercise of its discretion in regard to a matter within the powers of the Board and not marked by any clear abuse of discretion. It is manifest that this must be true? for if the discretion vested in a Board be sub
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ject to review and control by the courts the result would be the substitution of the judgement of the court for the judgement of the legislatively chosen power. Rotenberry v. Board of Supervisors,
However, it is clear here that Section 6 of Chapter 371, Laws of 1946, repealed the provisions of Section 8922 which had theretofore made it an offense to practice veterinary medicine in the state, and the mandate of the act did not vest in the board any discretion in the granting of the license to practice as it appeared beyond dispute that the appellant was of good moral character and had practiced for more than ten years in this state аnd had paid to the board his license fee of ten dollars. The proof is undisputed that this showing was made to the' Board and there is no evidence in this record showing that Mr. Wаtkins was not of good moral character, nor that he had not practiced for more than ten years in the state, or that he had not paid the required fee оf ten dollars. We are of the opinion that the board had no discretion in the matter and that it was the duty of the board to grant the license, and its refusal to do so was arbitrary and in violation of the provision of Section 6 of Chapter 371, Laws of 1946.
Our attention has been called to State v. Ohio State Medical Board,
The lower court was correct in awarding the injunctive relief prayed for in the bill and the decree of the lower court will be affirmed.
Affirmed.