SC row: Opposition wants ‘sensitive’ matter probed

Describing the concerns expressed by four senior-most Supreme Court judges as “unprecedented and sensitive”, key opposition parties on Friday demanded a probe into the issues flagged by them, including that of the mysterious death of judge BH Loya.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the points highlighted by the judges were “extremely important” and called for a probe into Loya’s case by the “highest level of the Supreme Court”.

The Congress said the PIL concerning the death of Loya must be entrusted to the senior-most judges of the apex court who should ensure that under their supervision there is a “thorough and impartial” investigation by an independent SIT.

Special CBI judge B H Loya, who was hearing the highprofile Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had allegedly died under mysterious circumstances in 2014.

The apex court had on Thursday agreed to hear two separate pleas seeking independent probe into the death.

BJP chief Amit Shah was an accused in the case but was discharged.

One of the four senior-most judges, who held an unprecedented press conference, had said that the matter involving Loya’s death was one of the issues underpinning their differences with Chief Justice Dipak Misra.

“I think the points that have been raised by the four judges are extremely important. They have mentioned there is a threat to democracy. It needs to be looked into carefully.

“They also made a point about judge Loya’s case. I think that is also something that needs to be investigated properly. It needs to be looked at from the highest level of the Supreme Court,” Gandhi told reporters here tonight.

In his brief statement, Gandhi said that all citizens who love the idea of justice and believe in the Supreme Court were looking at the developments, and therefore it was important that those were addressed.

A battery of senior Congress politician-lawyers including Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Vivek Tankha and Salman Khurshid were present at the

IN HIS BRIEF statement, Rahul Gandhi said that all citizens who love the idea of justice and believe in the Supreme Court were looking at the developments, and therefore it was important that those were addressed.

press conference. Senior party leaders Ahmed Patel, AICC general secretary incharge of Maharashtra Mohan Prakash and its chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala were also present.

In its statement on the issue, read out by Surjewala, the Congress said it was perturbed by the developments and that observations made by the judges and the issues raised by them at their press conference were “extremely disturbing” and have a “farreaching” consequence for the values that are held sacred-safeguarding democracy and preserving the independence of the judiciary.

“The Congress earnestly appeals that the Full Court of the Supreme Court should take up the issues raised by the four the judges and find solutions that are consistent with the traditions and conventions of the judiciary pointed out by the judges and that will preserve the independence of the judiciary,” it said.