[Letter from V S Srikumar]

Summary

A one-page circular letter dated 17 September 1976, sent from the All India Swatantra Party’s National Head Quarters at 10-A, Flowers Road, Madras 84, over the signature of V. S. Srikumar, Joint Secretary. Writing on the instructions of the party President Mr. G. K. Sundaram, Srikumar informs the addressee that a committee of sixteen lawyers has been constituted to study the 44th Constitution Amendment Bill in depth and to submit a report — keeping the party’s principles, policies and programme in view — before 30 September 1976.

The letter’s operative purpose is to announce a “special business-like conference” to be held on Sunday, 10 October 1976 in Madras, at which the Bill and the lawyers’ committee report will be discussed and suitable resolutions adopted. Recipients are asked to inform colleagues in their area and to urge them to attend. Srikumar acknowledges the expenditure this will involve for travelling, boarding and lodging, and expresses the hope that many members will prefer to meet the cost themselves and undergo the inconvenience in order to participate in the deliberations. The document is a short organisational circular; it does not itself argue the constitutional case, but it captures Swatantra’s institutional response — a lawyers’ committee plus a members’ conference — to the Indira Gandhi government’s mid-Emergency constitutional amendment push.

Key points

• Circular letter from V. S. Srikumar, Jt. Secretary, All India Swatantra Party National Head Quarters, Madras, dated 17 September 1976.
• Written on the instructions of the party President Mr. G. K. Sundaram.
• Announces that a committee of 16 lawyers of the party has been constituted to study the 44th Constitution Amendment Bill in depth.
• The lawyers’ committee is expected to submit its report before 30 September 1976, guided by the party’s principles, policies and programme.
• A special business-like conference is called for Sunday, 10 October 1976 in Madras to discuss the Bill and the committee’s report and adopt suitable resolutions.
• Recipients are asked to inform colleagues in their area and encourage attendance at the meeting.
• The letter notes the travel, boarding and lodging expenditure this will impose on members and hopes many will bear the cost themselves in order to take part.