Judge Loya death: CJI to hear case tomorrow

A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI), Dipak Misra, will hear from Monday two PILs that seek an independent probe into the death of special CBI court judge BH Loya.

The case, last heard by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and MM Shantanagouder, was seen as one of the main triggers for last week's unprecedented crisis in India's judiciary.

Four SC judges — the most senior of the court's 25 after the CJI — held a press conference on January 12 to bare their anguish over CJI's alleged breach of institutional integrity, and "to save the democracy". When asked whether the presser was related to the case of Loya, one of the four judges had said "yes".

Justices AM Khanwilkar DY Chandrachud will also be on the bench led by the CJI. The four revolting judges — Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph — had said that sensitive cases should be heard by senior judges.

But the transfer of the case from Court 10 to Court 1 raises fresh eyebrows. The earlier controversy was because it was listed before a "preferred bench." With the Chief Justice's bench now hearing the case, concerns over alleged conflict of interest remain, legal experts believe.

At the presser, the judges had admitted to speaking to their chief beforehand on numerous occasions.

When CJI Misra allegedly did not listen to their impassioned pleas, they "took the difficult decision" to speak directly to the nation.

There, before media cameras, the four judges admitted that there was a lot that was wrong within the judges' lounge, but the catalyst for the presser was the allocation of Judge Loya's case to a relatively junior judge, Justice Arun Mishra.

In December 2014, Judge Loya died, allegedly of a cardiac arrest, in Nagpur while attending his friend's daughter's wedding. At the time of his death, he was presiding over the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case that had 22 accused, including BJP's Amit Shah. Shortly, after Loya's death, the case was transferred to another judge who then dismissed the charges.

At the last hearing, Maharashtra, which has been made a party, submitted documents, pertaining to the death, in a sealed cover. The apex court had directed senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Maharashtra, to give a copy of the documents to the petitioners.

However, Maharashtra had initially objected to sharing the documents arguing that the contents of the sealed cover were sensitive. Though, it later acceded to the court's request and agreed to its direction to supply copies.