SC rejects pleas for probe in Loya death

VERDICT Political storm follows court’s dismissal of ‘frivolous PILs to settle scores’

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed pleas seeking an independent probe into the death of special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court judge BH Loya, ruling that he had died of natural causes and slamming the petitions as a serious attempt to scandalise the judiciary and obstruct the course of justice.

The ruling of the three-judge bench, including chief justice Dipak Misra, which triggered an immediate political slugfest between the ruling and opposition parties, put an end to all public interest litigation (PIL) over the circumstances of judge Loya’s death.

“PIL jurisdiction is being brazenly used by those who have an agenda to settle scores,” the bench said in its order. “The true face of the petition is seldom unravelled. It’s a serious concern as frivolous PILs detract court’s time from hearing genuine petitions of personal liberty.”

The bench described the petitions as “a veiled attempt to launch a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and to dilute the credibility of judicial institutions.”

Judge Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, died of a cardiac arrest on December 1, 2014, in Nagpur, where he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter. Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah, among others, was named in the Sohrabuddin case, and later discharged.

Judge Loya’s death came under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoted his sister as raising suspicions about the circumstances surrounding it and linking it to the Sohrabuddin case. Four judges who were in Nagpur with him at the time said the death was due to natural causes.

A clutch of petitions were then moved in the SC seeking an independent probe into Loya’s death. “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,” read the judgment.