The Supreme Court today dismissed pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya, ruling that the judge died of natural causes and that the petitions were a serious attempts to scandalise and obstruct the course of justice.A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said there was no reason to doubt statements of the judges on circumstances leading to the death of Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. .Rejecting the plea with strong words, the court said it was clear that judge Loya died a natural death and there was 'not a shred of doubt' about it.The court also dismissed their argument that a single man was controlling the entire judiciary as scandalous.The court said that it has a duty to protect its judicial officers and this petition was an attempt to launch a frontal attack on the judiciary. However, it refrained from launching contempt of court action against the lawyers concerned. Among those who had sought a probe were senior advocates Dushyant Dave, Indira Jaising and Prashant Bhushan.The apex court said doubting the judges statement would be like questioning the integrity of the judiciary. The court said there is no merit in the petitions. Court said attempt of the petitioners was to malign the judiciary.Loya had allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.Judge Loya was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, in which BJP chief Amit Shah was the main accused.Loya's successor acquitted Shah. Judge Loya’s family had claimed that he was under a great deal of psychological pressure on the case.The Maharashtra government had argued in the apex court that all pleas seeking an independent probe into Loya's death were motivated and aimed at targeting "one individual" in the guise of upholding the rule of law.It had come down heavily on alleged accusations, bullying and browbeating of judges in the top court by some activist lawyers in the Loya case and said that the judiciary and judicial officers need to be saved from such things.Meanwhile, those seeking an independent probe into the matter had referred to the sequence of events to highlight that a fair investigation was needed to rule out any foul play in the death.The issue of Loya's death had come under spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister had fuelled suspicion about the circumstances surrounding it and its link to the Sohrabuddin case. But Loya's son had on January 14 said in Mumbai that his father had died of natural causes.In the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, BJP President Amit Shah along with Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria, Rajasthan-based businessman Vimal Patni, former Gujarat police chief P C Pande, Additional Director General of Police Geeta Johri and Gujarat police officers Abhay Chudasama and N K Amin have already been discharged.Several accused, including police personnel, are currently facing trial for their involvement in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and their associate Tulsiram Prajapati in Gujarat in November 2005. The case was later transferred to CBI and the trial shifted to Mumbai.A batch of pleas, including those filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawala and Maharashtra-based B S Lone, was filed in the top court seeking an independent probe into Loya's death in 2014.Four senior-most apex court judges -- Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, M B Lokur and Kurian Joseph -- at their January 12 press conference had questioned the manner in which sensitive cases were being allocated and Loya's case was one of them.(Inputs from Samanwaya Rautray & PTI)