Supreme Court verdict on Judge Loya probe likely today

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce its order on a plea seeking an independent investigation into Judge Loya’s death on Thursday.The matter was heard by a three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.The court had reserved its verdict in the case on March 16. Maharashtra-based journalist BS Lone and activist Tehseen Poonavala had filed independent pleas seeking a fair probe into the death of Judge Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, involving various police officers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah.

An NGO, which had sought an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya had claimed in the Supreme Court that he might have died due to poisoning as he had complained of chest congestion and contended that there were suspicious circumstances surrounding Loya’s death and the court should not consider them coincidences. They said Loya was not given proper and timely medical attention and the state’s probe was not adequate.

Loya had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter.Judge Loya’s son Anuj Loya has said the family no longer has any suspicion about the death. “There was some suspicion before due to emotional turmoil, but now it is clear,” Anuj Loya told reporters in January.

The Maharashtra government told the top court that the petitions that sought an independent probe are motivated.The case had become a rallying point for Opposition parties, which said that there was a threat to democracy when lawyers and judges working on important cases were targeted. Congress president Rahul Gandhi met President Ram Nath Kovind with a group of lawmakers, asking for an independent investigation into judge Loya’s death.