D.Y. Chandrachud ORDER
A.M. Khanwilkar, J.
1. This special leave petition takes exception to the judgment and order of the High Court of Judicature at Madras dated 26th April, 2018 in Writ Petition No. 19335 of 2017, whereby the High Court has issued a writ of mandamus to transfer the investigation of a criminal case concerning the illegal manufacture and sale of Gutkha and Pan Masala, containing Tobacco and/or Nicotine, to the Central Bureau of Investigation ("CBI").
2. The Petitioner has been named as an Accused in the FIR because of his alleged involvement in the crime under investigation. The Petitioner at the relevant time was posted on deputation as Food Safety Officer in the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department, Ministry of Health. The stated crime was being investigated by the State Vigilance Commission, constituted by the State of Tamil Nadu, headed by a Vigilance Commissioner. The gravamen of the challenge to the impugned judgment is on four counts:
(i) First, that the prayer for transfer of investigation of the crime in question to the CBI has already been considered and negatived by the Coordinate Bench of the same High Court in Writ Petition No. 1846 of 2017 vide judgment dated 27th January, 2017 and again in Writ Petition No. 12482 of 2017 vide judgment dated 28th July, 2017. These decisions have been completely disregarded in the impugned judgment.
(ii) Second, the Petitioner though named as an Accused in the FIR was not given an opportunity of hearing nor was made a party in the public interest litigation in which the impugned judgment has been passed. Resultantly, the judgment under appeal is a nullity and liable to be set aside only on this score.
(iii) Third, no special circumstances have been noted by the High Court in the impugned judgment for transferring the investigation to CBI. The High Court has not even bothered to examine the efficacy of the status report regarding the investigation done by the Vigilance Commission. In other words, there was no tangible ground for directing investigation of the crime in question by the CBI.
(iv) Lastly, it is contended that the writ petition filed as public interest litigation was politically motivated having been filed by a member of the Legislative Assembly in the State of Tamil Nadu.
3. To buttress the above-mentioned grounds of challenge, reliance is placed on the decision of this Court in the case of State of Punjab v. Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar and Ors. 
MANU/SC/1476/2011 : (2011) 14 SCC 770.
4. The admission of this special leave pet........