Former Bombay HC Judge Asks for SIT Probe Into 'Mysterious Circumstances' Surrounding Judge Loya's Death
Justice B.H. Marlapalle has written to the current chief justice of the court, asking her to take steps to urgently address the allegations.
The late judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya, Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi, and BJP president Amit Shah. Credit: Caravan/Facebook/PTI
New Delhi: A former Bombay high court judge, Justice (retired) B.H. Marlapalle, has written to the current chief justice of the court urging a probe into the 'mysterious circumstances' surrounding the death of Brijgopal Harkishan Loya in December 2014.
With his letter to Justice Manjula Chellur about the allegations of foul play in the death of the special CBI judge – who at the time was presiding over the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case in which BJP chief Amit Shah was the prime accused – Marlapalle has joined other members of judiciary to speak out against the allegations.
Stating that the apex court "while interpreting Article 235 of the Constitution of India, has repeatedly stated that the High Court is the guardian of the subordinate judiciary," he said that Justice Chellur ordering an SIT probe into the matter "will certainly make the subordinate Court Judges to believe that they are not orphans."
On November 23, while referring to the allegations levelled by the late Judge Loya's family, Delhi high court Chief Justice A.P. Shah had said that failing to enquire into the allegations "would send a very wrong signal to the judiciary, particularly the lower cadre”.
The family of Judge Loya, who has questioned the circumstances around his death, has also claimed that in weeks leading up to his sudden death – ostensibly because of cardiac arrest – the late judge had revealed to them that Mohit Shah, then chief justice of the Bombay high court, had offered him Rs 100 crore to give a “favourable” judgment in the case.
Justice A.P. Shah has told The Wire in an exclusive interview that Justice Chellur or "the Chief Justice of India himself should look into this material and decide whether to order an enquiry, because if these allegations are not investigated it causes serious stigma on the judiciary.”
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