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Top court declines new probe into judge Loya death, says there is no ground for suspicion

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Judge Loya died on 1 December 2014 in Nagpur. At the time, he was the special judge in the trial for the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh.

New Delhi: “The judiciary must continue to perform its duty even if it is not to be palatable to some,” the Supreme Court said Thursday as it declined to order a fresh probe into the death of special CBI judge B.H. Loya.

“There is absolutely no merit in the writ petitions. There is no reason for the court to doubt the clear and consistent statements of the four judicial officers,” the court said.

“The documentary material on the record indicates that the death of judge Loya was due to natural causes. There is no ground for the court to hold that there was a reasonable suspicion about the cause or circumstances of death which would merit a further inquiry,” the court said, referring to the judges accompanying Loya at the time of his death.

In the 114-page verdict, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud launched a stinging attack on the credibility of the petitioners.

“We must lean in favour of the version of the four judicial officers unless strong and indisputable circumstances are shown to doubt their credibility. This would be in the larger public interest, to uphold the independence and integrity of the institution,” the court said.

Five petitioners, including activist Tehseen Poonawala and journalist Bandhuraj Lone, had moved the Supreme Court seeking a fresh probe into Loya’s death. Separately, a request was made to re-examine the witnesses whose statements were recorded by police at the time of the judge’s death.

The court had agreed to hear the pleas even as the Bombay High Court was already looking into the issue. The proceedings in the high court were then transferred to the top court.

“Political rivalries have to be resolved in the great hall of democracy when the electorate votes its representatives in and out of office,” the court said.

Senior advocates V. Giri, Dushyant Dave, Prashant Bhushan and Indira Jaising appeared for the petitioners while the Maharashtra government was represented by former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi and former solicitor general Harish Salve.

Every hearing in the case was explosive, with the petitioners and the government hurling accusations at each other. Dave had, on several occasions, said that any unanswered question on Loya’s death would be a blot on India’s independent judiciary.

“If we cannot protect one of our own, we have no reason to exist,” he had told the court.

The court said that the conduct of the petitioners and the intervenors “scandalised the process of the court and prima facie constitutes criminal contempt”. But it fell short of initiating contempt proceedings against the lawyers “only not to give an impression that the litigants and the lawyers appearing for them have been subjected to an unequal battle with the authority of law”.

The state government had defended its probe, which established that Loya’s death was natural, and categorically stated that a fresh probe will “unnecessarily bring the judiciary into disrepute”.

“A fresh probe will look at statements of deceased judge’s colleagues with suspicion and pit one against the other,” Rohatgi had argued.

The bench had heard the case for weeks before reserving their verdict on 16 March.

Judge Loya died on 1 December 2014 while attending a wedding with fellow judges in Nagpur. At the time, he was the special judge in the trial for the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, in which BJP president Amit Shah was a key accused.

After Loya’s death, judge M.B. Gosavi took over the trial. Shah and several other key accused were subsequently discharged.

In November last year, Caravan magazine published a report in which Loya’s relatives were quoted as alleging that Loya was under “immense pressure to give a favourable verdict in the case”, raising questions about the circumstances of his death.

News reports subsequently emerged on alleged discrepancies in the probe conducted by the Maharashtra police, hinting at a possible cover-up.

The apex court has referred to the other issues raised by the petitioners, including the transfer of Loya’s predecessor J.T. Utpat, back to the Bombay High Court. Jaising had requested the initiation of contempt proceedings against the administrative committee of the high court that transferred the special judge in the Sohrabuddin case in spite of Supreme Court orders against doing so.

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