R. V. S. Peri Sastri, was a former

Chief Election Commissioner of India The Chief Election Commissioner of India heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures and of President and Vice-President. This power of th ...

and served from 1 January 1986 until his death from cancer on 25 November 1990. The 1989 general elections were held during his tenure. Born at Bhimilipatnam in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

on 1 February 1929, Peri Sastri obtained a master's degree in English from the Madras Christian College under the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

. Thereafter, he taught at Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh and Raipur, in erstwhile Madhya Pradesh, before enrolling for a BCL degree at the Faculty of Law,

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

. He completed his BCL and L.LM from Delhi and also taught at the university. In 1956-57, he joined the Law Commission of India as a Junior Law Officer and moved thereafter to the Law Ministry, Government of India. He held various positions in the Law ministry, and rose to the post of Secretary to the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

in 1978. Peri Sastri was principal legislative draftsman of the Government of India for several years. He drafted several amendments to the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

and many epochal bills including the Road Corporations of India Act of 1950,The Road Corporations of India Act, 1950.
/ref> The Sugar Development Fund Act, 1982 and Delhi Sales Tax Act, 1975. During Peri Sastri's tenure as Chief Election Commissioner, the Government of India made the first effort to convert the commission into a multi-member body by appointing two election commissioners on the eve of the 1989 General election. This move was widely described as an attempt to curtail the powers of Peri Sastri, who refused to be browbeaten by the Government on the timing or conduct of the election, as described by former

Comptroller and Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Fre ...

C G Somiah in his book The Honest Always Stand Alone. During the tenure of Dinesh Goswami as Law Minister in the government of

Vishwanath Pratap Singh Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 – 27 November 2008), shortened to V. P. Singh, was an Indian politician who was the 7th Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990 and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda. He is India's only prime minister ...

, Peri Sastri recommended wide-ranging electoral reforms. The voting age was reduced to 18 during his tenure as Chief Election Commissioner. Also, the first steps towards use of Electronic Voting Machines were taken during his term.

References

External links

List of former C.E.C.s of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peri Sastri, R. V. S. Chief Election Commissioners of India Telugu people Living people Madras Christian College alumni University of Madras alumni Year of birth missing (living people)