Why isn't Maharashtra government ready for an independent probe into Judge Loya's death, asks Bombay Lawyers' Association

NEW DELHI:  During the hearing into the death of special CBI judge BH Loya, senior lawyer Dushyant Dave representing Bombay Lawyers' Association asked why the state government was shying away from an independent probe in the case.

"Even if we accept that judge Loya's death was natural, why is the state government not ready for an independent probe into the case? The report of the state government itself is contradictory and needs to be investigated," he said.

Raising questions about his death, the plea filed in court also states that the documents submitted by the state government have been overwritten hence the original documents should be produced in court.

The Supreme Court is hearing the pleas seeking an independent probe into the alleged mysterious death of judge Loya, who was hearing the sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.

Loya 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, 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. An application was also 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 last year 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.

During the hearing on January 22, the apex court had restrained other high courts from entertaining any petition with regard to Loya's death and transferred to itself the petitions pending before the Bombay High Court.

The Maharashtra government had produced before the court the statements of four district judges, two of whom have been appointed as judges in the Bombay High Court, saying Loya had died of a heart attack and it was they who had taken him to the hospital on the morning of December 1, 2014.