Loya died of natural causes, says SC, rejects PILs

The Supreme Court today rejected the PILs seeking probe into the death of special CBI judge B H Loya, ruling that he had died of "natural causes", as it held that the petitions were moved by political rivals to settle scores which was a serious attempt to scandalise the judiciary and obstruct the course of justice through a "frontal attack" on its independence.

Loya, who was hearing the high-profile 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 brought the curtains down on raging debate over his death, saying "the circumstances ... which have been dealt with by this court in the judgment delivered today stands concluded".

"We have come to the conclusion that there is absolutely no merit in the writ petitions. There is no reason for the court to doubt the clear and consistent statements of the four judicial officers.

"The documentary material on the record indicates that the death of Judge Loya was due to natural causes. There is no ground for the court to hold that there was reasonable suspicion about the cause or circumstances of death which would merit a further inquiry," a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said.

"We rest in the hope that the Bar of the nation is resilient to withstand such attempts on the judiciary. The judiciary must continue to perform its duty even if it is not to be palatable to some," Justice D Y Chandrachud, writing the judgement for the bench which also had Justice A M Khanwilkar, said.

The bench said, "Business rivalries have to be resolved in a competitive market for goods and services. Political rivalries have to be resolved in the great hall of democracy when the electorate votes its representatives in and out of office."
"There is no basis whatsoever to make any imputation against the four officers of the state judiciary... The judges have spoken about the facts of the case as they could recall, with details," the bench said, adding, "the statements ... have a ring of truth. They had nothing to conceal nor an axe to grind."