Application for the writ is made by petition to the Superior Court and signed either by the party for whose relief it is intended, or by some person on his behalf, and shall specify: (a) That the person in whose behalf the writ is applied for is imprisoned or restrained of his liberty, the officer or person by whom he is so confined or restrained, and the place where, naming all the parties, if they are known, or describing them, if they are not known; (b) If the imprisonment is alleged to be illegal, the petition shall also state in what the alleged illegality consists; (c) The petition shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the party making the application. NOTE: Section 135.12 is substantively the same as former § 1474. See also Cal. Pen. Code § 1474 (same except for designation of court). It should be noted that the restraint referred to in Subsection (a) includes both actual and constructive custody. See B. Witkin, California Criminal Procedure Habeas Corpus and Other Extraordinary Writs § 794 (1963, Supp. 1973). As to other policy limitations, see id. §§ 795-798. As to grounds for relief, see id. §§ 799-810. See also § 135.38. As to form of the petition, see id. § 811. See also § 135.14.
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