Agencies
New Delhi, Nov 23: Former Delhi high court Chief Justice AP Shah Thursday became the first senior member of the judiciary to speak out about the allegations of foulplay in the December 2014 death of special CBI judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya, who was presiding over the trial of BJP president Amit Shah and a number of top Gujarat police officers for the encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi.
Apart from referring to the grievances of Loya’s family members regarding the suspicious circumstances of his death, Justice Shah also expressed concerns regarding allegations of corruption as the late CBI judge was allegedly offered a bribe of Rs 100 crore for a “favourable” judgment in the weeks and months before his sudden death, ostensibly due to cardiac arrest.
Justice Shah said it was necessary that either the Chief Justice of India himself or the Chief Justice of the High Court looked into the matter and decide whether to order a probe, as the issue concerns faith of the people in the integrity and credibility of the judiciary.
Terming Loya an honest and upright judge, Justice Shah said, “Not enquiring into the allegations made by the family would send a very wrong signal to the judiciary, particularly the lower cadre.”
He stressed that, “In such cases where prima facie material is available to investigate, it is ‘absolutely necessary’ to order an enquiry. Any misgivings of the family of a member of a judiciary should be addressed.”
According to Loya’s family they had received calls informing them of his death from 5 am in the morning onwards. The post-mortem report, however, specifies the time of death as 6:15 am, while other sources claimed that Judge Loya passed away before midnight
Judge Loya’s sister, a doctor, claimed that Judge Loya had no medical history consistent with the condition, and that this raised doubts as to whether this could be the cause of death