This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution praying for the issue of a writ of mandamus or other appropriate writ to direct the respondent, the Superintendent of Police, Special Police Establishment, Madras, to return all the files seized upon search, after declaring the investigation to be illegal. On 3rd September, 1960, two Police Inspectors, working in the Special Police Establishment, Madras, armed with warrants issued by the Second Presidency Magistrate, Madras, made searches of the office and the residence of the petitioner. The warrant purported to authorise the Inspectors to search for incriminating documents in connection with the suspected commission by the petitioner of the offence of trafficking in import licences, punishable under section 5 of the Imports and Exports Control Act, 194.7. The petitioner claims that at no time before the search was any summons issued to him to produce any documents. The warrant authorising a general search without any reference to the seizure of particular documents is claimed to be improper. The officers who conducted the search made wholesale seizure of all the files and papers without even looking into the document