CBI special judge BH Loya
Meanwhile, terming the Supreme Court decision as “unfortunate”, the CPI-M demanded review of the case by a larger bench.
NEW DELHI (Agencies) — The Congress said on Thursday that the Supreme Court judgment dismissing a batch of pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge B H Loya will raise more questions and leave many of them unanswered unless logical reasons were found in it.
“Dispassionate analysis of Loya judgement must await its full reasoning. But unless logical reasons found in it, it will raise more questions and leave many unanswered,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said on Twitter.
In his first response to the verdict, Mr Singhvi said the top court can remove suspicions only by dealing with them directly.
“Am prepared to accept a) heavy emphasis in SC Loya regarding veracity of accompanying judges b) anguish regarding scandalous arguments (c) initiation of contempt if it arises (d) provided it is accompanied by solid reasons rebutting the 7/8 suspicious circumstances raised. Absent that, above lamentations not enough (sic),” he tweeted.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday reiterated that Congress party is committed to people’s demand for a fair investigation in the matter surrounding Judge Loya’s death
He said, “today is a ‘sad letter day’ in India’s history. The suspicious death had caused concern as Judge Loya was trying the Tulsiram Prajapati/ Sohrabuddin encounter case, where one of the accused was none less than BJP national president, Amit Shah. Verdict of the Honourable Supreme Court has left many questions unanswered.”
The Congress party pointed out that “Judge Loya’s death was even raised by the four Senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court in public domain in a press conference. This only proves that even the Supreme Court judges were concerned about protection of Rights and Independence of Judiciary. BJP’s attempts to make false political capital out of Supreme Court Judgement must be condemned.”
Judge Loya allegedly died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter. He was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.
Judge Loya’s death had come under the spotlight in November last year after media reports quoting his sister had fuelled suspicion about circumstances surrounding it and its link to the Sohrabuddin case.
But his son on January 14 said in Mumbai that his father died of natural causes.
In reference to the verdict, BJP leader Sambit Patra today alleged that Congress chief Rahul Gandhi was the “invisible hand” behind the veiled petitions in the top court. “Rahul Gandhi has put the Indian judiciary to shame” in a bid to attack BJP Chief Amit Shah, he said.
CPI-M terms Supreme Court decision “unfortunate”
Terming the Supreme Courts decision in special CBI judge B.H. Loyas death case as “unfortunate”, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Thursday demanded that the case be heard by a larger bench of the apex court.
“The Supreme Court’s rejection of all petitions demanding an independent probe into the death of Judge Loya and holding such petitions as ‘scandalous’ by a three-member Bench is unfortunate,” the party, whose 22nd Congress is in session here, said in a statement.
“The circumstances of Judge Loya’s death raised several questions. The CPI-M holds that the matter should be reviewed by a larger bench of the Supreme Court,” it added.