NEW DELHI: 114 Opposition MPs have signed a petition to President
Ram Nath Kovind, demanding a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) to enquire into the alleged mysterious death of
CBI judge B H Loya.
A delegation of leaders from 13 opposition parties also went to meet the President later in the day and discussed the matter with him. After the meeting, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said President Kovind assured them that he'll give the matter due consideration.
"114 MPs from 15 parties signed the memorandum. His (Judge Loya) death is suspicious, there have been two other suspicious deaths. President gave positive response," Rahul told reporters.
The opposition said only a Supreme Court-monitored SIT can "solve the issue" and strongly ruled out an investigation by the CBI or the NIA.
"Many MPs from both
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha felt discomfort over the fact that a judge died under suspicious circumstances and also feel that the matter should be probed and an SIT should be formed. It is owed to Judge Loya and his family that an investigation takes place properly," Rahul added.
The move comes on a day when a bench headed by Chief Justice
Dipak Misra heard a plea seeking an SIT probe into the circumstances of
Justice Loya's death in 2014.
The arguments were inconclusive today and hearing would continue on February 12, the bench ruled.
Previously, the top court had asked the Maharashtra government to submit the postmortem report of the CBI judge, citing that the "matter was very serious."
Loya, who was hearing the sensitive
Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, had died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.
The issue came under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister fueled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.
(With inputs from Agencies)
