SC to hear pleas seeking probe into judge Loya's death on Friday

Special CBI judge BH Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court will resume hearing on Friday on the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of special CBI judge BH Loya.

The petitions would come up for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.

Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, had died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.

The apex court, during the last hearing on January 22, 2018, had dubbed as "serious" the issues raised in the pleas.

The two petitions which are pending in the apex court have been filed by Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla and Maharashtra-based journalist BS Lone.

Later, an application was filed by former Navy chief L Ramdas seeking an independent inquiry by a panel of retired apex court judges and former police officers into Loya's death.

The issue of Loya's death had come under the spotlight in November 2017 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.

Meanwhile, the Congress had on Wednesday demanded an SC-monitored Special Investigation Team probe into the death of judge, saying there seemed to be a "cover-up" and "some serious questions were unanswered".

(With PTI inputs)