Uncertainty over who will hear PIL that split SC

NEWDELHI: Uncertainty increased over who in the Supreme Court (SC) will hear the Loya case after the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra on Friday ordered that the matter be put up before “an appropriate bench as per roster”.

This bench will hear the two public interest litigations demanding an independent probe into the death of special CBI court judge BH Loya who died in 2014.

It isn’t clear who will be on the “appropriate bench”. The CJI’s directive comes three days after a bench of Justices Arun Misra and MM Shantagoudar hearing the case ordered its listing before an “appropriate bench,” triggering speculation that they would withdraw from hearing it.

The Loya case is seen as the trigger for the the top four SC judges after the CJI to go public with their criticism of CJI Misra for allocating sensitive cases to junior judges.

Judge Loya, who was presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, died in Nagpur on December 1, 2014.

Current BJP President Amit Shah was named in the case, although, in late December the same year, the court discharged him.

Friday’s order by the CJI was issued after Tehseen Poonawala and Mumbai-based journalist BR Lone mentioned the matter before the CJI. Lone’s advocate Anita Shenoy said she went to the CJI’s court to apprise him about the last order in the case and seek a date for hearing.