(1.) The present petition has been fled seeking a writ of mandamus inter alia to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate for taking cognizance of the complaint fled by the Petitioners with the Mumbai Police and for purposes of taking investigation in their hands. The complaint is stated to have been sent by the Petitioners through email to the Commissioner of Police Mumbai, as also the DCP, Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on 11/7/2022 against Respondent Nos. 5, 6 and 7. Respondent Nos. 5 and 6 are stated to have been the offce bearers of the political party 'Shivsena '. Respondent No. 5 is also stated to have been the Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra for a period of 30/31 months, whereas Respondent No. 6 is stated to have been a minister in his cabinet. It is alleged that the complaint fled with the Mumbai Police although forwarded on the same date to the EOW, had not resulted in any investigation into the allegations levelled against the said Respondents.
(2.) Insofar as the allegations are concerned, the Petitioners state that the said Respondents have committed serious economic offences and offences of corruption, despite which Respondent No. 4 i.e. the Police Commissioner, Mumbai had avoided to take legal action against the said Respondents on account of heavy political pressure. In the petition, it is further alleged that Respondent Nos. 5, 6 and 7 have assets, which are otherwise disproportionate to their known sources of income. The assets are stated to be Benami Transactions. It is alleged that the said Respondents run periodicals by the name 'Marmik ' and 'Saamna ' which are not subjected to the audit bureau of circulation and that during the Corona period, while the entire print media in India was facing heavy losses, the company, 'Prabodhan Prakashan Private Limited ' practically owned by Thackeray family, had shown a turnover of Rs.42.00 crores and a book proft of Rs.11.5 crores.
(3.) In the backdrop of the aforementioned facts it is prayed that not only should cognizance be taken on the complaint fled by the Petitioners and further that the same should be monitored by this Court. Reliance was placed upon Param Bir Singh V/s. The State of Maharashtra to support the proposition that this Court in the aforementioned case had exercised the writ jurisdiction and referred the matter to the CBI.