SC rejects pleas for probe into Loya death
Political storm follows court’s dismissal of ‘frivolous PILs to settle scores’
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed pleas seeking an independent probe into the death of special 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 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 public interest litigation (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. BJP 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. Loya’s son, too, in January said his father’s death was natural.
A clutch of petitions, including those filed by activist Tehseen Poonawala and Maharashtra-based journalist BS Lone, were then moved in the SC seeking an independent probe into the death of judge Loya.
“There is no reason for the court to doubt the clear and consistent statements of the four judicial officers. 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, authored by justice DY Chandrachud.
The third judge on the bench was justice AM Khanwilkar.
The judges relied heavily on a discreet enquiry held by the Maharashtra government subsequent to media reports in November 2017 alleging foul play in judge Loya’s death. Two of the four judges who went to Nagpur – judge Shrikant Kulkarni, and judge SM Modak – had stayed with judge Loya at the Ravi Bhawan guest house when they went to attend the colleague’s daughter’s wedding
Judges RR Rathi and V.K. Barde corroborated the version of judges Kulkarni and Modak. While a relative of Rathi’s attended to judge Loya at one of the hospitals where he was taken, judge Barde had met the judge a day before his death.
The apex court refused to “subscribe” to the “frontal attack” by the petitioners against the four judges and rejected their demand to crossexamine them.
The petitioners assailed the discreet enquiry on the grounds that it was done hastily and also accused the judges of not taking judge Loya to a hospital with better medical facilities.
“Each of the judges has spoken in detail of the facts and events which were within their personal knowledge. The statements contain matters of detail which would be known to those who were present with Judge Loya. They have a ring of truth. They had nothing to conceal nor an axe to grind,” the bench said. “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 Supreme Court condemned the petitioners for referring to cases not related to the Judge Loya case, in the course of the proceedings, and said “unfounded aspersions” had been cast on high court judges and insinuations were made that one individual was controlling the judiciary.
The court pulled up the petitioners’ lawyers for making “scurrilous” remarks against the judiciary and doubting the statement of the high court judges. It said the action amounts to contempt for “scandalising” the judiciary but didn’t issue notices of contempt.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, claiming vindication, mounted an attack on the opposi- tion Congress after the ruling. “It is extremely unfortunate that there have been several attempts at targeting the BJP and assassinating the character of its top leaders on the basis of ‘fake facts’. These attempts have failed miserably once again,” home minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter.
Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “The BJP condemns the reckless allegations made against the party president in the court proceedings. The case was not in the interest of public but in the interest of the Congress.” The minister said the “reckless allegations” amounted to character assassination of BJP president Shah, and demanded an apology from Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter, “Indians are deeply intelligent. Most Indians, including those in the BJP, instinctively understand the truth about Mr Amit Shah. The truth has its own way of catching up with people like him.”
The Congress said it was a “sad letter day” in India’s judicial history, adding that the verdict had left many questions unanswered. “The issue of criminality or lack of it can only be decided through an investigation. We reiterate our demand for an independent and fair probe into Judge Loya’s death,” Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) termed the judgement ‘unfortunate’. “The circumstances of Judge Loya’s death raises several questions,” it said.
In March, the Supreme Court bench had reserved judgment on the pleas for an independent probe into Loya’s death.
The Maharashtra government, opposing the petitions, argued that all the pleas were motivated and aimed at targeting “one individual” in the guise of upholding the rule of law.
Sohrabuddin Sheikh, a smalltime criminal, was allegedly gunned down by a team of policemen from Gujarat and Rajasthan in November 2005 when he was on his way from Hyderabad to Sangli. The case includes the alleged killing of his wife Kausar Bi and their associate Tulsiram Prajapati. Besides Shah, Rajasthan home minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief PC Pande, additional director general of police Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and NK Amin have already been discharged in the Sohrabuddin case.