RAGHVENDRA SINGH CHAUHAN, J.

1. The present Habeas Corpus Writ Petition has been filed by Mr. Vem Narender Reddy, a close associate and family friend of Mr. Anumula Revanth Reddy, an Ex-MLA and a contesting candidate from the Kodangal Assembly Constituency, Vikarabad District, in the General Elections for the Legislative Assembly-2018, which were underway at the time of filing of the habeas corpus petition. Mr. Reddy is also the Working President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee. According to the petitioner, on 04.12.2018, at about 2:40 a.m., Mr. Anumula Revanth Reddy was suddenly picked up by the police, and taken to an unknown destination. Therefore, the petitioner not only seeks a direction from this court for the production of the detenu before this court, but also prays that the State should be directed to pay a compensation of Rs.20.00 lakhs to Mr. Reddy for the violation of his fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

2. Briefly, the facts of the case are that Mr. Anumula Revanth Reddy was an M.L.A. from the Kodangal Assembly Constituency, Vikarabad District, for two consecutive terms. Since he would raise his voice against the ruling party for the public cause, he became a very popular political leader in the state. During the assembly elections, scheduled to be held on 07.12.2018, he was appointed as the Working President of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.

3. During the period of election campaigns, on 27.11.2018 about 3:30 p.m., a team of officers raided the farm-house of one Mr. Patnam Narender Reddy, a contesting candidate of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) Party from the Kodangal Constituency. During the raid, the police seized cash worth Rs.51.00 lakhs, and a note book which contained cash transactions relating to distribution of monies for the ensuing assembly elections. In the light of the said incident, on 03.12.2018, Mr. Reddy, the detenu, sent a complaint to the Election Commissioner and to the Chief Electoral Officer-cum-Principal Secretary to Government GA (ELECS) Department, Telangana Secretariat, Hyderabad. He demanded that Mr. P. Narender Reddy should be disqualified from contesting the elections as he had violated the Model Code of Conduct and the Election Laws.

4. Allegedly, as a counter-blast, the police also conducted raids on 01.12.2018, at midnight, in the houses of those who are close associates of Mr. Reddy, and local leaders of the Congress Party. Immediately, on 01.12.2018, the detenu staged a dharna in support of his close associates and local leaders, whose houses were raided in the night. The detenu also called for a bandh (protest) on 04.12.2018. Moreover, on 02.12.2018, the detenu held a press conference and warned that supporters of the Congress Party would disrupt the campaign rally at Kosgi, scheduled for 04.12.2018, where the Caretaker Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State was to address the people.

5. Without serving any notice, suddenly, in the night of 03.12.2018, around 2:45 a.m., thirty to forty personnel broke through the main gate of Mr. Reddy’s house. They entered into the house, they broke the bedroom door, and whisked away Mr. Reddy at the dead of the night. Hence, this habeas corpus writ petition before this court.

6. Mr. C.V. Mohan Reddy, the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner, has raised the following contentions before this Court:-

Firstly, during the relevant period, the detenu was spearheading the campaign for the assembly elections on behalf of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Party. Since the election was a hotly contested one, the state machinery has been abused by the State in order to ensure that the Congress Party does not come into power. Therefore, the state machinery has been utilized for oblique and ulterior motives.

Secondly, both as a citizen and as a political leader, the detenu has the right to express both his personal opinion, and the public views, at the election rallies. The right to champion the publi