Mumbai: Family members of the late special CBI judge B.H. Loya said “their hopes have been extinguished” after Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the plea of an independent investigation into his death. The SC termed his death ‘natural’ that was caused by a cardiac arrest.
“The judgment is not as per our expectations. There are a number of unanswered questions,” said Srinivas Loya, the uncle of the judge. Loya had been conducting the trial in the alleged fake encounter of Sohrabuddin Shiekh, where BJP President was a prime accused.
“It would have been much better if there was an independent probe. But we don’t have any expectation from anyone anymore about this. Everything seems managed. The media and opposition parties have been taking the issue up, but nothing seems to be coming of it,” he told ThePrint by phone from Latur.
Expressing helplessness, Loya’s sister Anuradha Biyani said “There is no hope left. For the past four years, we are left with nothing to say.”
A PIL had sought an independent probe into his death:
A PIL had sought an independent probe into Judge Loya’s death in December 2014, while he was trying the fake encounter case. However, the apex court said the PIL was an attempt to malign the judiciary. It said Judge Loya died a natural death and there was no doubt about it, quoted Times of India.
The apex court had earlier asked the Maharashtra Government to submit the postmortem report of the CBI judge citing that the “matter was very serious.”
As per the official records, Justice Loya died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur in 2014, a day after he attended the wedding and reception of his colleague’s daughter. Maharashtra-based journalist B.S. Lone and activist Tehseen Poonavala had filed independent pleas seeking a fair probe into his death.
Loya’s death came to limelight in November 2017 following media reports, that quoted Biyani, ignited suspicion over the circumstances of his death and its link to the high-profile case. Later, Loya’s son had on January 14 said that his father had died of natural causes.