A three-member bench of the Supreme Court today dismissed a batch of petitions seeking an independent investigation into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya.

Judge Loya reportedly died of a cardiac arrest while in Nagpur in Maharashtra on December 1, 2014. He was in Nagpur to attend a wedding. Loya's death led to allegations of a foul play since he was investigating the politically sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud observed today that that there was no reason to doubt the statement made by four judges who were there with Loya at the time of his death, and the bench was of the opinion that doubting their statements would amount to doubting the integrity of the institution.

"There is no merit in the case. There will be no probe into Loya's death," the Supreme Court bench observed. "The public interest litigations [PILs] were filed to settle political scores and scandalise the judiciary and the process of law."

The Supreme Court bench also said the statements made by the various petitioners in the case could amount to a "criminal contempt of court". The court, however, said that it was not initiating civil contempt against the petitioner for scandalising the judiciary.

The bench observed, "There is a large public interest to uphold independence of judiciary" and that there is "great danger" if this state of affairs is allowed to continue. Talking about the PILs filed, the bench said, "Such petitions have potential to endanger the judicial system."

In the Loya death case, a batch of petitions was filed by activist Tehseen Poonawala, the Bombay Lawyers Association, Maharashtra-based journalist Bandhuraj Sambhaji Lone, NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and others.

The Supreme Court bench was of the opinion that the petitions are frontal attack on the judiciary and that it became apparent that people behind these petitions have agendas.

Saying there is no basis for the court to doubt the veracity of the account of the judges who were with Judge Loya, the bench said, "The court will fail in its duty if it does not stand by the judges of the Bombay HC."

Judge Loya was holding trial in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case in which present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah was an accused. Shah was later discharged in the case.

The Maharashtra government objected to the petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of Judge Loya saying the pleas were obliquely motivated, based on unverified media reports and were being orchestrated "because there is a particular functionary of a political party".

During the hearing, the Bombay Lawyers Association had told the Supreme Court that the late Judge Loya's family might have been coerced into saying that they do not want fresh probe into his death, but suspicious circumstances surrounding it warrants an independent probe.

Pointing to "too many coincidences" around the death of Judge Loya, senior counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing for the association, had recounted the sequence of events and had said that "there is a suspicion around the death of Judge Loya".



Also read: Supreme Court bars all High Courts from hearing any petition on Judge BH Loya death case

Also read: In Rahul Gandhi's 'How did Loya die?' series, a question on removal of yet another judge

Watch: Judge Loya case caught in political tug of war?



