Justice J Chelameswar and three other Supreme Court judges publicly took on the Chief Justice (File)
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, along with two more judges, will today hear petitions asking for an independent investigation into the death of Judge BH Loya, a case that was first assigned to a bench that four senior judges had believed was not suitable to handle the sensitive case. A bench led by Justice Arun Mishra, which took up the case last week, referred it to an "appropriate bench", after which the Chief Justice took over. The Loya case was one of the main triggers for Justices Jasti Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, MB Lokur and Kurian Joseph going public with their criticism of the way cases are assigned by the Chief Justice.
Here are the top 10 points on the Judge Loya case:
- The two other judges in Chief Justice Dipak Misra's bench are Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice AM Khanwilkar.
- On January 12, the four judges held a stunning press conference at Justice Chelameswar's home and publicly took on the Chief Justice, indicating that he was abusing his position as "master of roster" and that "cases with far reaching consequences" were being assigned to junior judges.
- The judges called the press conference after the Judge Loya case was assigned to Justice Arun Mishra, who is number 10 in the Supreme Court hierarchy.
- Justice Arun Mishra reportedly broke down at a meeting of judges at the Supreme Court lounge, saying he was being "unfairly" targeted. He was comforted by Justice Chelameswar as well as the Chief Justice.
- Chief Justice Misra reached out to the judges, who rank after him in seniority, and held discussions twice last week -- once in the presence of the four other judges. "The ice is melting," said sources about the judges' talks, but there is no formal resolution yet.
- Judge Loya died of a heart attack in December 2014, while he was hearing a case in which BJP chief Amit Shah was accused of murder. Mr Shah was discharged from the case by the new judge who said there was no evidence to merit a trial.
- Two months ago, Judge Loya's relatives alleged that his death was unnatural. Speaking to the Caravan magazine, his sister Anuradha Biyani claimed there was blood on his clothes. Another relative alleged that Judge Loya was offered a huge bribe. But the police and a judge who was with Judge Loya during his last hours, rubbished the family's claims.
- Petitions asking for an investigation have been filed by activist Tehseen Poonawala and a journalist from Maharashtra, BS Lone.
- Judge Loya's son Anuj Loya told the media on January 14 that the family has no suspicions now and his father's death was being politicised. "There was some suspicion before due to emotional turmoil, but now it is clear," Anuj Loya said.
- The Maharashtra government has submitted documents related to the death of Judge Loya -- including post-mortem details and a 50-page intelligence report -- to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover. The state government said it was going through the report to see what is safe to put out in public domain.
Comments
