No probe in Judge BH Loya’s death: SC rejects review petition

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review its order dismissing the plea for an independent/CBI probe into the death of CBI special judge B H Loya in Mumbai in mysterious circumstances.

A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and A M Kanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud dismissed the petition filed by the Bombay Lawyers Association seeking review of its judgment.

The bench after perusing the petition in the chamber held that there are no merits in the petition seeking review of the April 19 verdict.

The apex court by an order on April 19 ruled that “documentary material on the record indicates that the death of Judge Loya was due to natural causes”

The review petition while reiterating the demand for CBI probe also sought deletion of the court’s findings in the judgment that the petitions were a “veiled attempt to launch a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and to dilute the credibility of judicial institutions”.

The association said that the “judgment has resulted in miscarriage of justice if not complete negation of justice on the facts of the case”. It said its attempt was not to “sensationalise the subject matter nor make a veiled attempt to launch a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary or to dilute the credibility of judicial institutions”.

The petition said on the contrary, the whole attempt was to reassure the entire judiciary that the association would stand behind every judge in times of challenge in his or her life. The effort was for an independent enquiry to reassure all the Members of the Judiciary and nothing more.

If the enquiry was ordered as prayed for and if it found that Judge Loya had indeed died of heart attack, it would have set all doubts to rest but it would have sent a strong message to the judiciary and to the country that individuals are willing to stand up for the judiciary and not desert it in time of challenge.

However, if an enquiry would have found some foul play it would have truly been a great service to the independence and impartiality of judiciary and its members. Either way the efforts of the petitioner association were to uphold the dignity and independence of judiciary and not otherwise,” it said.

The review petition said the association was only questioning the veracity of the discreet enquiry report prepared by the Commissioner of Intelligence, Maharashtra Police, on the death and that was in no way to malign the dignity of the judges whose statements formed part of the report.

“If the said observations and findings stand, it will discourage persons in future from coming forward to protect this great Institution which is more often than not under attack from the other branches of the Democracy.”

Reiterating its stand that the enquiry report was an attempt to pre-empt a truly independent enquiry, the association said the Supreme Court had “committed serious errors apparent on the face of the record in not giving any weightage whatsoever to various loopholes, gaps and shortcomings” in the report.