CJI decides to hear PILs on Loya himself

No rebel judge on bench

Looking to address the concerns of four senior judges, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has decided to himself hear on Monday the two petitions seeking an independent probe into the mysterious death of former special CBI judge H. B. Loya. The decision follows the dramatic recusal of Justice Arun Mishra on January 16 from hearing the PILs.

The CJI- headed threejudge bench for hearing the PILs on Loya’s death will not include any of the four rebel judges. It will include Justices A. M. Khanwilkar and D. Y Chandrachud, according to a list released by the Supreme Court registry on Saturday.

The assigning of the high- profile Loya case to Justice Mishra’s bench is seen as the trigger for the top four Supreme Court judges — Justices J. Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B. Lokur and Kurian Joseph — to go public with their criticism of CJI Misra for allocating sensitive cases to junior judges.

Justice Mishra had recused himself from the

case a day after breaking down in a meeting of judges and accusing the four seniors of tarnishing his image by indirectly questioning his integrity.

Judge Loya, who refused to discharge BJP president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, died in Nagpur in 2014. The judge who succeeded Loya discharged Mr Shah and the CBI is yet to file an appeal.

On Friday, the two petitioners in the Loya case — Tehseen Poonawala and B. R. Lone — mentioned the matter before the CJI who said that an appropriate bench as per roster would hear the matter.

On Saturday, it came to light that CJI himself will hear the petitions setting at rest speculation on the composition of the bench.

On January 16, a bench of Justices Mishra and M. M. Shantanagouder, after asking the Maharashtra government to share details of Loya’s autopsy report with petitioners, directed that the petitions to listed before an appropriate bench, thereby recusing from the case.