SC dismisses review petition for Loya death probe

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea to revisit its April 19 decision over probing the untimely death of Special CBI judge BH Loya who presided over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter trial.

Dealing with a review petition filed by Bombay Lawyers Association, a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, sat in chambers and decided there was no ground made out to review its earlier decision that put a lid over the controversy declaring that Loya’s death was due to a cardiac arrest.

The order passed on Tuesday said, “We have carefully gone through the review petition and the connected papers, but we see no reason to interfere with the order impugned. The review petition is, accordingly, dismissed.”

Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, died in Nagpur on December 1, 2014 where he was attending the wedding of a colleague’s daughter. His death was linked to the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter trial as BJP president Amit Shah was named as an accused in the case. However, Shah was later discharged from the case for lack of evidence.

The apex court dismissed allegations of foul play relying on documentary material on record and statements of judicial officers accompanying Loya on the fateful day. The Bench had even said, “Political rivalries have to be resolved in the great hall of democracy when the electorate votes its representatives in and out of office.”