IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD WEDNESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI ANIL R. DAVE AND HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE R. SUBHASH REDDY WRIT APPEAL NO.687 of 2008 (Writ Appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the order dated 20.06.2008 in Writ Petition No.12735 of 2008 on the file of the High Court.) Between: Damisetty Satyanarayana, S/o. Satyam, Veeravellipalli Village, Inavelli Mandal, East Godavari district. ....Appellant And 1. The Chairman, Sri Raja Narendra Swamywari Devasthanam, Veluvalapalli Village, Inavelli Mandal, East Godavari District. 2. The Assistant Commissioner, Endowments, Rajahmundry, East Godavari District. ....Respondents Counsel for the appellant : Sri P.Udaya Bhaskara Rao Counsel for the respondents : Government Pleader for Endowments The Court passed the following: JUDGMENT: (per R. Subhash Reddy, J.) This appeal is filed by the petitioner in Writ Petition No.12735 of 2008 aggrieved by the order dated 20th June, 2008 passed by the learned Single Judge. In the writ petition, the petitioner – appellant has questioned the auction notice dated 9.6.2008 to auction the leasehold rights for the lands bearing Sy.No.215/3 admeasuring Ac.3.25 cents and Sy.No.214/3 admeasuring Ac.0.85 cents situated at Veluvalapalli Village, Inavalli Mandal, East Godavari District. The said auction notice was questioned mainly on the ground that earlier the auction was notified for a period of three years and in response to the said notice, the petitioner has participated and lease was granted in his favour. It is his case that when the auction was notified for a period of three years, there is no reason for putting the very same land on auction on expiry of one-year period. But, however, it is the case of the respondents that though auction was notified for a period of three years, it was confirmed by the competent authority only for a period of one year and accordingly it was communicated by the first respondent temple to the petitioner – appellant. In this appeal, it is argued by the learned counsel for the appellant that when the auction notice was issued for a period of three years, it is not open for the respondents to confirm the lease only for a period of one year. However, it is to be noted that after confirmation of the earlier lease for a period of one year, the first respondent temple has already communicated the same to the appellant by proceedings dated 30th September, 2007, which was sent by Registered Post Acknowledgement Due. Though it is argued by the learned counsel for the appellant that the said communication was not received by his client, but, however, the learned Government Pleader has produced the file which shows that the said letter was sent to the appellant by Registered Post Acknowledgement Due and there is also a receipt in proof of sending such communication. In that view of the matter, there is a presumption that the said communication must have been sent to the appellant herein. When the auction was confirmed only for one year, there are no grounds to question the auction notice dated 9.6.2008. Further, it is also stated by the learned Government Pleader that even in the current lease year, auction was already held, the son of the appellant has also participated in the auction and he was the highest bidder for Rs.21,500/-, which is Rs.1,000/- above the lease amount of the previous year. For the aforesaid reasons, as much as the lease was confirmed in favour of the appellant only for one year and the same was duly communicated to him by letter dated 30th September, 2007, we do not find any ground to interfere with the order passed by the learned Single Judge. The writ appeal is devoid of merits and is accordingly dismissed. No order as to costs. ANIL R. DAVE, C.J. 16th July, 2008 R.SUBHASH REDDY, J. ….REGISTRAR To 1. The Chairman, Sri Raja Narendra Swamywari Devasthanam, Veluvalapalli Village, Inavelli Mandal, East Godavari District. 2. The Assistant Commissioner, Endowments, Rajahmundry, East Godavari District. 3. Two copies to the Government Pleader for Endowments, High Court Buildings, Hyderabad (OUT). 4. Two C.D. copies.