HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.25829 of 2010 Date 20.10.2010 Between: Reddy Narasimha Rao and others. ..... PETITIONER AND Gram Panchayat, Sriharipuram Village, Mudinepalli Mandal, Krishna District rep. By its Secretary and another. .....RESPONDENTS Counsel for the Petitioner :Sri P.Sudheer Rao Counsel for the Respondent No.1 :Sri M.Prabhakar Rao HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY WRIT PETITION No.25829 of 2010 ORDER: This Writ Petition is filed for a Mandamus to declare the inaction of the respondents in enquiring into the alleged collection of money by the previous Secretary of respondent No.1 and further to declare the notification dated 06.10.2010 issued by respondent No.1 as illegal and arbitrary. The petitioners are residents of Sriharipuram Village, Mudinepalli Mandal, Krishna District. Respondent No.1 represented by its Secretary issued an auction notice on 18.09.2010 proposing to auction the leasehold rights of catching fish in the tanks situated in the gram panchayat area for the year 2010-11 by fixing the date of auction as 23.09.2010. It is the pleaded case of the petitioners that the Secretary has collected in all Rs.70,000/- towards earnest money deposit paid by the intending participants including the petitioners at the rate of Rs.5,000/- each and that no such auction was held as proposed. The Secretary, who allegedly collected the said amount, is stated to have been transferred and after his successor has taken over, he has issued a fresh auction notice on 06.10.2010 proposing to hold auction on 11.10.2010. The said auction notice stipulated that the intending bidders shall pay the deposit of Rs.5,000/- each. The grievance of the petitioners in this Writ Petition is that the previous Secretary having collected Rs.5,000/- from each of the intending bidders and the auction not having been held, there is no justification for respondent No.1 to insist on payment of fresh earnest money deposit. The petitioners further stated that they have made a representation on 22.09.2010 to the Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj Department, and no action has been taken thereon. I have heard Sri P.Sudheer Rao, learned Counsel for the petitioners and Sri M.Prabhakar Rao, learned Standing Counsel representing respondent No.1. A perusal of the representation stated to have been made by the petitioners to the Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj Department shows that the previous Secretary allegedly collected a sum of Rs.70,000/- and did not give receipts for such payment. In the absence of evidence produced by the petitioners, on mere oral assertion, it is not possible for this Court to direct respondent No.1 not to collect earnest money deposit from the intending bidders in pursuance of the later auction notice. Therefore, no relief can be granted to the petitioners in this regard. Learned Assistant Government Pleader for Panchayat Raj stated that respondent No.2 has not received any representation and that the competent authority to consider the grievance of the petitioners is the District Panchayat Officer. The petitioners are permitted to make a detailed representation to the District Panchayat Officer concerned. If the petitioners intend to participate in the auction, they are bound to pay the earnest money deposit. However, in view of the serious allegations made by the petitioners against the previous Secretary, it is incumbent upon the respondents to hold an enquiry and fix the responsibility on the Secretary if it is found that he has defalcated the amounts collected from the intending bidders. In such an case, the respondents shall ensure that the amounts collected towards the earnest money deposit are returned to the persons who have paid such deposits and initiate appropriate proceedings for recovery of such amount from the person who collected the money. Subject to the above directions, the Writ Petition is disposed of. As a sequel to disposal of the main petition, WPMP.No.32953 of 2010 filed by the petitioners for interim relief is disposed of as infructuous. C.V.NAGARJUNA REDDY,J Date:20.10.2010 usd