[Letter to the Enforcement Officer]

Summary

This is a short typewritten letter dated 11 April 1977 from Shri Gobindram M. Chandiramani of Borivali (East), Bombay, addressed to the Chief Enforcement Officer at the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, care of the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce at Rampart Row, Fort. Written in reply to a post-card enquiry (Ref. ERI/EO/57/FINA/5080 dated 31 March 1977), the letter states that the writer’s concern, Rollins Electrical Works, was closed down and the Enforcement Directorate was so informed in 1974; there is therefore no question of furnishing balance sheets or other documents, and the writer asks that the matter be treated as closed.

The more pointed part of the letter turns political. Chandiramani observes that since all the Emergencies, internal as well as external, have now been lifted, he cannot see why an enquiry rooted in a 1971 Emergency-era foreign-exchange provision should still be pursued against a defunct firm. He requests an expedited reply and marks a copy of the letter to Shri M. R. Masani’s ‘Watch-Dog’ Cell of the Janata Party in Bombay — evidently as a channel of political redress in the immediate post-Emergency months. The second rendered page is the reverse of the mailing envelope, hand-addressed and bearing a Bombay postal cancellation, which confirms the letter was actually posted.

Key points

• Two-page item: a one-page typewritten letter dated 11 April 1977 plus one page showing the reverse of the mailing envelope with a Bombay postmark.
• Sender is Shri Gobindram M. Chandiramani of B.8/22, Rajindra Nagar, Borivali (East), Bombay-400066; addressee is the Chief Enforcement Officer, Ministry of Finance, Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Fort, Bombay-400023.
• Written in reply to Enforcement Directorate post-card No. ERI/EO/57/FINA/5080 dated 31 March 1977 concerning the writer’s firm Rollins Electrical Works.
• Chandiramani states that the firm was totally closed and the Enforcement Directorate was informed of the closure in 1974, so no balance sheets can be furnished and the matter should be closed.
• The letter’s political sting is a rhetorical question: with both the internal and external Emergencies now lifted, why is an enquiry originating in the 1971 Emergency still being pursued?
• A carbon copy is marked to Shri M. R. Masani’s ‘Watch-Dog’ Cell of the Janata Party in Bombay, positioning Masani’s cell as a redressal channel for post-Emergency citizen grievances against the Enforcement Directorate.
• The envelope reverse gives the return address as Gobindram M. C., B.8/22, Rajendar Nagar, Datta … Borivli B, Bombay-400060, and carries a Bombay postal date-stamp from 1977.