Loya Death: Lawyers’ Body to Seek Cross-Examination of Judges

The organisation, one of the petitioners in the SC, also wants to cross-examine four of the judge’s family members.

A Mumbai lawyers' body will file a plea in the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, seeking to cross-examine 11 people, including two judges, in connection with the death of special CBI judge BH Loya.

The organisation, which is one of the petitioners in the SC seeking an independent inquiry in the alleged mysterious death of Loya, who had died on 1 December 2014, also wants to cross-examine four of the judge’s family members.

The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justcies A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had allowed the petitioner to file an application following an oral mention of it by senior advocate Dushyant Dave.

Dave, who appears for the Bombay Lawyers' Association in the matter, said the application will be filed on Tuesday.

Those sought to be cross-examined include S M Modak, principal district judge, Pune, Vijay C Barde, Additional Sessions Judge, City Civil and Sessions Court, Greater Bombay, Sanjeev Barve, director general, state intelligence department, Dr Prashant Bajrang Rathi, Niranjan Takle and Srikant D Kulkarni, Member Secretary, Maharashtra State Legal Service Authority.

The petitioner will also seek to cross-examine Dr Pinak Gangadhar Rao and four family members of judge Loya including his son, wife, father and sister.

Loya was presiding over the special CBI court in Mumbai which was hearing the sensational Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case when he died in Nagpur where he had gone to attend the wedding of the daughter of a fellow judge.

Shah and a few senior police officers were subsequently discharged from the case.

Loya's sister had later suggested a possible link between the death of her brother and discharge of Shah. Loya's son, however, told a press conference in Mumbai recently that his father had died of natural causes and that the family does not want any futher probe.

The Supreme Court had recently said that it was concerned only with the death of B H Loya, and would not go into other aspects including BJP chief Amit Shah's discharge in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.