Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave concluded his arguments today in the petitions seeking a probe into the death of Judge Loya..Appearing for Bombay Lawyers Association, Dave argued at length on the report of the Commissioner of Intelligence – submitted by the State of Maharashtra in the Supreme Court – in which it had refuted allegations of suspicion surrounding the death of Loya..Dave questioned the wisdom of the state in arguing that the reports published in Caravan Magazine are false, while at the same time carrying out a discreet inquiry into the death and coming out with the report..“The State which solemnly takes the stand before this Hon’ble Court that “the article is completely bereft of facts and truth”, swung into action in two days and ordered Commissioner State Intelligence to conduct “discreet inquiry” and submit report. The decision of the State to order such an inquiry raises serious doubts as to the motive behind it. .Apparently the State wanted to pre-empt any independent enquiry including by the Courts. If the present group of petitions are rejected by this Hon’ble Court, the State would have achieved that purpose. Everyday hundreds of reports appear in newspapers, the State does not order such enquiries”, submitted Dave..Dave also asked how the Commissioner knew who were the four judges who had accompanied Loya to the hospital, when the Caravan article did not mention the same except the name of one judge..“Commissioner Intelligence swings into action on the same day, but while State’s letter did not indicate the scope of enquiry or the persons involved or to be spoken to, the Commissioner wrote to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bombay claiming that “following judicial officers had accompanied Mr. Loya to the hospital on 01/12/2014” and indicated names of four Learned District Judges as also those of two Hon’ble Judges of the High Court and sought permission to record the say of the above judicial officers either in the form of a statement or letter elaborating the sequence of events and the facts known to them in this matter..How did the Commissioner Intelligence within minutes of the State Government’s order know that who were the judicial officers who had accompanied late Judge Loya? Clearly his letter to the High Court demonstrates the frivolous nature of the preconceived and pre determined enquiry.”.Dave then submitted that the report deserves to be confined to a dustbin..“It is a matter of great regret that the judiciary was unwittingly drawn into this discreet enquiry. This report deserves to be thrown in the dustbin. I do feel Your Lordships should have been more harsh on the State”, Dave said..Dave then stated that there were many discrepancies in the report of the Commissioner of Intelligence..“The Report is self destructive of its genuineness. The enquiry is ordered on 23rd November, 2017 and the material is collected and compiled in the Report dated 28.11.201…The Report does not indicate that the Commissioner Intelligence met any person whosoever or made any visit to any place to satisfy himself about the truthfulness or otherwise of the statements or the facts….…Some of the statements are recorded even prior to the initiation of enquiry. For example, Dr. Prasanth Rathi’s statement was recorded on 22.11.2017 by Police Superintendent (Crime) Nagpur. His statement is relied upon in Para 3.7 of the Report. This clearly shows complete absence of credibility of the Enquiry and the Report. .Similarly, the letter of the Learned District Judge Rupesh Rathi is dated 23.11.2017. Now Shri Rathi was served with a letter by hand by the Commissioner Intelligence on 23.11.2017 itself. The preparation and submission of his letter on the same day raises serious question marks about the genuineness of the same.”.It was only a matter of time before Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Maharashtra, interjected Dave..“All this is absurd. Under the guise of PIL based on some yellow article, a person is being attacked”, submitted Rohatgi..It immediately led to a heated exchange between Dave and Rohatgi..“What is absurd is the new judge giving discharge [to Amit Shah] within ten days after Judge Loya’s death”, Dave replied..“Is that case being heard here? The article appeared three months after the discharge. Why did the article not appear before?”, asked Rohatgi..“Discharge happened in 2014. CBI did not appeal against it. Article appeared in 2017”, said Dave..“SC dismissed the appeal three months before the article” was Rohatgi’s response..“That was Harsh Mandar’s appeal. The SC dismissed that appeal for want of locus, CBI never appealed against the discharge”, retorted Dave..Dave then minced no words in expressing his displeasure at the Bench for not being tough on the State..“It troubles me that Your Lordships have asked me many questions, and tried to offer alternate possibilities to my arguments. However, no such questions were put to Mr. Rohatgi when he was arguing”..This did not go down well with Justice Chandrachud who said,.“We will ask the questions we want. We don’t need to show a veneer of justice. Justice lies in our heart. We do not want a certificate from an arguing counsel.”.“I am not giving certificate, I just stated my feeling”, responded Dave..Dave then proceeded to make further submissions on the letter written by Judge Loya’s son, Anuj Loya and on the interviews given by the two High Court Judges, Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Sunil Shukre to Indian Express, repeating what the four District Judges had mentioned in their letters..It was Dave’s argument that the interviews and the striking similarity in the four letters all raised grave suspicion which could be addressed only by ordering an independent probe..Dave then rested his case..After Dave, advocate Prashant Bhushan commenced his arguments on behalf on NGO CPIL. Bhushan’s argument was based on two documents which he contended were not annexed by the state government to the Report submitted by the commissioner..“The report does not annex ECG taken at Dante and histopathology report. The ECG claimed to have been taken at Dante was published in Indian Express in its article refuting the Caravan article. I obtained a copy of the same and showed it to several senior cardiologists. I have the opinion of one of the foremost cardiologists in the country – Dr. [Upendra] Kaul. He has opined that the ECG shows no indication of any heart attack at least one or two hours prior to the ECG.”.Bhushan then adverted to the Histopathology report..“Another crucial document is the histopathology report. It is normal and does not indicate any dead heart tissues or muscles. There is no evidence of any heart attack..If this is the ECG, then it rules out heart attack as the cause of death. If it is not the ECG, then it raises a serious question as to who fabricated the ECG and planted it in Indian Express..These documents rule out heart attack and that is why they have not been annexed to the report.”.The Bench proceeded to rise for the day. The hearing is likely to conclude tomorrow..Read Dushyant Dave’s written submissions below.
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave concluded his arguments today in the petitions seeking a probe into the death of Judge Loya..Appearing for Bombay Lawyers Association, Dave argued at length on the report of the Commissioner of Intelligence – submitted by the State of Maharashtra in the Supreme Court – in which it had refuted allegations of suspicion surrounding the death of Loya..Dave questioned the wisdom of the state in arguing that the reports published in Caravan Magazine are false, while at the same time carrying out a discreet inquiry into the death and coming out with the report..“The State which solemnly takes the stand before this Hon’ble Court that “the article is completely bereft of facts and truth”, swung into action in two days and ordered Commissioner State Intelligence to conduct “discreet inquiry” and submit report. The decision of the State to order such an inquiry raises serious doubts as to the motive behind it. .Apparently the State wanted to pre-empt any independent enquiry including by the Courts. If the present group of petitions are rejected by this Hon’ble Court, the State would have achieved that purpose. Everyday hundreds of reports appear in newspapers, the State does not order such enquiries”, submitted Dave..Dave also asked how the Commissioner knew who were the four judges who had accompanied Loya to the hospital, when the Caravan article did not mention the same except the name of one judge..“Commissioner Intelligence swings into action on the same day, but while State’s letter did not indicate the scope of enquiry or the persons involved or to be spoken to, the Commissioner wrote to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Bombay claiming that “following judicial officers had accompanied Mr. Loya to the hospital on 01/12/2014” and indicated names of four Learned District Judges as also those of two Hon’ble Judges of the High Court and sought permission to record the say of the above judicial officers either in the form of a statement or letter elaborating the sequence of events and the facts known to them in this matter..How did the Commissioner Intelligence within minutes of the State Government’s order know that who were the judicial officers who had accompanied late Judge Loya? Clearly his letter to the High Court demonstrates the frivolous nature of the preconceived and pre determined enquiry.”.Dave then submitted that the report deserves to be confined to a dustbin..“It is a matter of great regret that the judiciary was unwittingly drawn into this discreet enquiry. This report deserves to be thrown in the dustbin. I do feel Your Lordships should have been more harsh on the State”, Dave said..Dave then stated that there were many discrepancies in the report of the Commissioner of Intelligence..“The Report is self destructive of its genuineness. The enquiry is ordered on 23rd November, 2017 and the material is collected and compiled in the Report dated 28.11.201…The Report does not indicate that the Commissioner Intelligence met any person whosoever or made any visit to any place to satisfy himself about the truthfulness or otherwise of the statements or the facts….…Some of the statements are recorded even prior to the initiation of enquiry. For example, Dr. Prasanth Rathi’s statement was recorded on 22.11.2017 by Police Superintendent (Crime) Nagpur. His statement is relied upon in Para 3.7 of the Report. This clearly shows complete absence of credibility of the Enquiry and the Report. .Similarly, the letter of the Learned District Judge Rupesh Rathi is dated 23.11.2017. Now Shri Rathi was served with a letter by hand by the Commissioner Intelligence on 23.11.2017 itself. The preparation and submission of his letter on the same day raises serious question marks about the genuineness of the same.”.It was only a matter of time before Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Maharashtra, interjected Dave..“All this is absurd. Under the guise of PIL based on some yellow article, a person is being attacked”, submitted Rohatgi..It immediately led to a heated exchange between Dave and Rohatgi..“What is absurd is the new judge giving discharge [to Amit Shah] within ten days after Judge Loya’s death”, Dave replied..“Is that case being heard here? The article appeared three months after the discharge. Why did the article not appear before?”, asked Rohatgi..“Discharge happened in 2014. CBI did not appeal against it. Article appeared in 2017”, said Dave..“SC dismissed the appeal three months before the article” was Rohatgi’s response..“That was Harsh Mandar’s appeal. The SC dismissed that appeal for want of locus, CBI never appealed against the discharge”, retorted Dave..Dave then minced no words in expressing his displeasure at the Bench for not being tough on the State..“It troubles me that Your Lordships have asked me many questions, and tried to offer alternate possibilities to my arguments. However, no such questions were put to Mr. Rohatgi when he was arguing”..This did not go down well with Justice Chandrachud who said,.“We will ask the questions we want. We don’t need to show a veneer of justice. Justice lies in our heart. We do not want a certificate from an arguing counsel.”.“I am not giving certificate, I just stated my feeling”, responded Dave..Dave then proceeded to make further submissions on the letter written by Judge Loya’s son, Anuj Loya and on the interviews given by the two High Court Judges, Justice Bhushan Gavai and Justice Sunil Shukre to Indian Express, repeating what the four District Judges had mentioned in their letters..It was Dave’s argument that the interviews and the striking similarity in the four letters all raised grave suspicion which could be addressed only by ordering an independent probe..Dave then rested his case..After Dave, advocate Prashant Bhushan commenced his arguments on behalf on NGO CPIL. Bhushan’s argument was based on two documents which he contended were not annexed by the state government to the Report submitted by the commissioner..“The report does not annex ECG taken at Dante and histopathology report. The ECG claimed to have been taken at Dante was published in Indian Express in its article refuting the Caravan article. I obtained a copy of the same and showed it to several senior cardiologists. I have the opinion of one of the foremost cardiologists in the country – Dr. [Upendra] Kaul. He has opined that the ECG shows no indication of any heart attack at least one or two hours prior to the ECG.”.Bhushan then adverted to the Histopathology report..“Another crucial document is the histopathology report. It is normal and does not indicate any dead heart tissues or muscles. There is no evidence of any heart attack..If this is the ECG, then it rules out heart attack as the cause of death. If it is not the ECG, then it raises a serious question as to who fabricated the ECG and planted it in Indian Express..These documents rule out heart attack and that is why they have not been annexed to the report.”.The Bench proceeded to rise for the day. The hearing is likely to conclude tomorrow..Read Dushyant Dave’s written submissions below.
