HANDOVER JUDGE LOYA’S REPORTS TO PETITIONERS: SC TO MAHA GOVT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court directed the Maharashtra government on Tuesday to hand over the documents related to CBI judge BH Loya’s death to the petitioners who have sought a probe in the case and also ordered the matter to be “put up before an appropriate bench”.

The court’s order has raised doubts over whether the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra would continue to hear the Loya case, which has been a tipping point for the four top court judges who publicly criticised the CJI last Friday over allocation of work in the SC.

The apex court bench gave the directive after senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Maharashtra, handed over a sealed packet containing documents related to Loya’s death to the court. “It’s a case where they (petitioners) should know everything,” the bench told Salve.

Salve informed the court he had not seen the documents personally and was, therefore, unsure about the papers to be given. He was asked to peruse the papers and then give it to the petitioners’ lawyers. Salve said he expected the other side to keep the “sensitive” papers confidential and not share them in public.

Judge Loya, who was presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend a wedding in Maharashtra.

Tehseen Poonawalla and Mumbai-based journalist BR Lone have asked the SC to order a SIT probe into the judge’s death. The court asked the petitioners’ lawyers to look at the documents and then decide whether they want to argue the case.

When asked about the development, MOS for home (cities) Ranjit Patil said, “I am not aware about the submission. ”

Meanwhile, Nagpur police maintained that there was no need for f urther probe into Loya’s death. “We have verified the forensic as well as the post mortem reports and reached the conclusion that the death was because of cardiac arrest,” Nagpur joint police commissioner Shivaji Bodkhe said.