Rudrabatla Venkata Surya Peri Sastri[1] was a former Chief Election Commissioner of India and served from 1 January 1986 until his death from cancer on 25 November 1990.

He held various positions in the Law ministry, and rose to the post of Secretary to the Government of India in 1978.

Peri Sastri was principal legislative draftsman of the Government of India for several years.

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 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, Peri Sastri recommended wide-ranging electoral reforms.