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The high court dismissed the PIL which alleged that Uddhav Thackrey and his family had converted black money into white during the Corona period
A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur and Justice Valimiki SA Menezes on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation filed by Gauri Bhide against Former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackrey and his family for investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate for alleged disproportionate assets of his family.
The high court also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 and said that the PIL was nothing but an abuse of the process of law. The division bench said that there was no live link between the alleged corruption in BMC and the rise in the assets of the Thackeray family and the petitioner was attempting to seek a roving investigation.
Senior Advocate Aspi Chinoy for Uddhav Thackrey argued that the PIL was not maintainable and submitted that there was a procedure under CrPC if no action was taken on the complaint.
Senior Advocate Ashok Mudrangi for Rashmi Thackrey argued that central investigating agencies cannot be involved from the beginning and there has to be a prima facie cognizable offense.
The high court was also informed by the Maharashtra Government that the Economic offense wing had initiated an inquiry into the complaint of Gauri Bhide.
The plea filed by Gauri Bhide and Abhay Bhide alleged that during the lockdown and Corona period, when the entire print media in India was facing heavy losses, the company ‘Prabodhan Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.’, owned by the Thackeray family, showed a turnover of 42 Crores and a profit of Rs.11.5 Crores.
The plea further stated that the PIL was filed to expose the huge money laundering and indiscriminate corruption played by the persons holding very high places as public servants.
The petition stated that there were transactions between the company owned by Thackrey's and the BMC and that they were benami transactions. Further, it stated,
"It seems it's a clear case of turning the black money into white one. The unaccounted money gathered from BMC and other sources might have been dishonestly digested (sic) into the accounts of the above-mentioned company and fictitious figures of profit have been shown for this digestion."
Case Title: Gauri Bhide vs UOI & Ors.
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