[Letter to SV Raju]

Summary

This two-page letter from Dr. Yalamanchili Sivaji to “Raju,” dated 14 May 1976 in Guntur, recounts his detention and repeated efforts by the authorities to keep him imprisoned. Sivaji describes detention orders issued and revoked on technical grounds, proceedings before the Andhra Pradesh High Court, a habeas corpus petition transferred to a Full Bench, and his eventual release after the Government could not defend the detention in court. He presents the episode as a pattern of administrative evasion and encroachment on judicial authority during the Emergency.

Key points

• Sivaji describes his detention beginning on 25 June and the successive detention orders served on him.
• He states that the Andhra Pradesh High Court found the detention illegal because the Government failed to communicate the grounds within the required period.
• He recounts being released by the court and immediately rearrested by police using a fresh case and warrant.
• The letter says the Government ultimately released him when it could not obtain leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
• The Supreme Court later held that his habeas corpus petition was not maintainable during the Emergency, which Sivaji says allowed him to escape further detention by only 24 hours.
• Sivaji asks for advice concerning his sister Y. Prameela Rani’s career after completing an M.B.A.
• He asks to be restored to mailing lists for Freedom First and Forum of Free Enterprise publications and requests that his friends be informed.