Retired SC judge must probe Loya's death: PIL
It also mentioned that SC had also directed that the trial should be conducted by the same judge from the start till conclusion.
Mumbai: An association of advocates on Monday filed a petition in the Bombay high court seeking a probe by a retired Supreme Court judge into the death of late special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court judge B.H. Loya.
Loya was presiding over the high-profile trial of Sohrabuddin Shaikh’s fake encounter in which Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) national president Amit Shah was an accused.
The Bombay Lawyers’ Association in its PIL, which was filed by its president, advocate Ahmed Abdi, has said, “The present petition is being filed seeking independent enquiry/investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of late judge Loya by a Commission of Enquiry headed by a retired Supreme Court judge constituted by the high court as a guardian of subordinate judiciary.”
It is mentioned in the petition that the apex court had, in September 2012, transferred the trial of the 2005 killing of Shaikh and his wife Kauser Bi as well as the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter case of 2006 from Gujarat to Mumbai.
It also mentioned that SC had also directed that the trial should be conducted by the same judge from the start till conclusion. Despite this, there were two judges, the first of which J.T. Utpat was transferred; and Loya was appointed in this court, but he died suddenly on December 1, 2014 when he had gone to Nagpur.
The petition has said that two years after Loya’s demise there was a news report suggesting that his death was not natural and the Bombay Lawyers’ Association has sought enquiry into judge Loya’s death based on details published in various news reports. The petition would be heard in due course.
The CBI court conducting the trial in the Sohrabuddin and Prajapati encounters has restricted media from publishing trial proceedings. Earlier, the court had discharged several high-profile accused including Mr Shah, Rajasthan home minister Gulabchand Kataria, former Gujarat police chief P.C. Pande, former DIG D.G. Vanzara and others from the case.