SC Not To Hear Judge Loya Case On Monday Due To Non-Availability Of Judge

The SC was scheduled to hear a plea for an independent probe into the death of Judge Loya who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.

Outlook Web Bureau

Updated on: 13 January 2018 6:19 pm

The Supreme Court is likely to defer the hearing of plea seeking independent probe into Judge Loya's death.

The SC was scheduled to hear a plea for an independent probe into the death of Judge Loya who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. The proceeding now stands cancelled, due to non-availability of judge Shantanagoudar.

Supreme Court on Monday will not hear PIL seeking probe into the alleged mysterious death of Special CBI Judge BH Loya, as one of the SC judges M Shantanagoudar is on leave.
— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2018

Warning that democracy is at stake, four senior judges of the Supreme Court Friday mounted a virtual revolt against the country's chief justice, raising questions on "selective" case allocation and certain judicial orders, sending shockwaves across the judiciary and polity.

Asked what the issues were, Justice Chelameswar said they included the "allocation of cases by CJI". The remarks assume significance as the apex court earlier yesterday took up for consideration the issue of alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh 'fake encounter' case.

The SC had agreed to hear on Monday an independent probe into the death of Judge Loya.

The plea was filed by Maharashtra-based journalist B R Lone. He submitted that a fair probe was needed into the mysterious death of Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin encounter case in which various police officers and BJP president Amit Shah were named as parties.

Loya died of a cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

The issue came under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding his death and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.

A total of 23 accused, including police personnel, are facing trial for their involvement in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and their associate Tulsidas Prajapati in Gujarat in November 2005.

The case was later transferred to CBI and the trial was shifted to Mumbai.

A PIL seeking probe into the judge's death was also filed before the Bombay High Court on January 8 by the Bombay Lawyers' Association.

(Inputs from agencies)