CJI Dipak Misra’s bench to hear Judge Loya’s case

A Supreme Court bench comprising of three-judges headed by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra will hear on Monday two petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of CBI Special Judge B H Loya. The other two judges of the bench are Justices A M Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.

The Court had on Friday fixed the next date of hearing and ordered that the case be put up "before the appropriate Bench as per the roster".

The two petitions that demanded an independent probe into Judge Loya's death were earlier assigned to two judges including Justice Arun Mishra, the 10th most-senior judge of the Supreme Court and Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar

But after the controversial press conference by the four senior most judges of the Supreme Court on January 12, these two judges remitted the case back to the Chief Justice on Tuesday. The four judges- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph – had said there was an immediate need to preserve the judiciary system in the country if democracy has to be protected. They had emphasised that the sensitive cases should be heard by senior judges. They had clearly said that the case of Judge Loya’s death is also one of the cases they were referring to.

Judge Loya died in Nagpur in 2014, while he was hearing a case that accused BJP Chief Amit Shah of ordering a fake encounter in 2005. A few weeks after his death, Amit Shah was discharged from the case.

Three years after his death, in November last year, judge Loya's family members alleged that his death was unnatural. In an exclusive report published by The Caravan, Judge Loya’s sister Anuradha Biyani also claimed that he was offered a huge bribe to rule in favour of Amit Shah.

A Maharashtra journalist BS Lone and activist-petitioner Tehseen Poonawalla had filed a petition to seek an independent inquiry. Bombay Lawyers’ Association later filed another petition seeking a probe into his death relying on the report carried by The Caravan.