Justice Loya death case: Congress demands SC-monitored probe

The Congress demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the death of special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Justice B.H. Loya citing doubts raised by the deceased judge's sister and other family members.

Addressing a press conference here, Congress leader and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal pointed out various discrepancies and stressed that the case must be probed thoroughly.

"Judge Loya was under severe pressure at the time of his demise and truth must come out. As far as impeachment (of CJI Dipak Misra) is concerned, the matter is serious. Leaders of the Left parties have spoken to us. We are also talking to others. Such decisions cannot be taken in a hurry," he said.

"If the sister and father said they are 'in grave doubts' and the demeanour of the young man (Loya's son) should make us draw our own conclusions," he added.

The Judge Loya case was one of many issues raised by four Supreme Court judges in the January 13 press conference. They alleged that the CJI was assigning cases to benches of his personal preference.

Justice Loya, at the time of his death in December 2014, was hearing the politically-sensitive Sohrabuddin Sheikh police encounter case in which BJP chief Amit Shah was an accused along with several others. Shah was subsequently discharged from the case by the judge who took over the case.