Activist: Investigate judge Loya’s demise

Mumbai: A social activist has filed a petition in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court seeking a probe into the deaths of judge B.H. Loya and Nagpur-based advocate Shrikant Khandalkar. While Loya was conducting a trial into the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in which BJP president Amit Shah was an accused, Khandalkar was arguing various PILs about different scams and had evidence against several powerful persons. His body was found in mysterious circumstances on the court premises.

Suryakant Lolage has filed a petition on the basis of several news reports about the mystery surrounding the judge’s death. Loya reportedly died of heart attack on December 1, 2014 in Nagpur during the wedding reception of fellow judge Swapna Joshi’s daughter, while Khandalkar’s body was discovered on November 29, 2015.

The petitioner has mentioned few incidents, which occurred under the jurisdiction of the Sadar police station in Nagpur, including the deaths of Loya and Khandalkar. The petitioner has pointed out that some evidence in the fake stamp paper scam in Nagpur had gone missing from the same police station as well as from magistrate court, and that it was the sheer failure of the state government to maintain law and order in the state. The petitioner also mentioned that even former Delhi high court justice A.P. Shah has also sought a probe into Loya’s death.