Loya son, Bombay HC judge deny foul play surrounding judge’s death

Loya son, Bombay HC judge deny foul play surrounding judge’s death

The son of Brijmohan Loya has claimed that his family has no suspicions as to the death of the former CBI Court judge, TOI reports.

Anuj Loya had conveyed the same to Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Manjula Chellur, whom he met recently. He also reportedly stated that Loya’s family was sure that the judge had died of a heart attack. The letter handed over to Justice Chellur reportedly states,

“We have full faith in the members of the judiciary who were with him on the night of November 30.”

This development crops up days after sitting Bombay High Court judge Justice Bhushan Gavai revealed to news outlets that there was no sign of any cover up or mystery as to how Loya died.

Last week, The Caravan ran a report quoting the family members of Loya as suspecting foul play in the death of the judge who heard the Sohrabuddin case. In that report, Loya’s sisters and father pointed out various discrepancies, calling into question the circumstances surrounding his death.

Loya’s son himself had earlier written a letter stating that the family was receiving threats. Referring to then Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court Mohit Shah, the letter states,

“I asked him to set up an enquiry commission for dad’s death. I fear that to stop us from doing anything against them, they can harm anyone of our family members. There is threat to our lives…if anything happens to me or my family, chief justice Mohit Shah and others involved in the conspiracy will be responsible.”

However, there now seems to be a change in his stance. Further, different news outlets have published conflicting accounts of what happened, based on different sources.

Indian Express has Justices Gavai and Sunil Shukre denying that Loya’s body was sent unescorted to his hometown near Latur – as alleged in the Caravan report – and stating that two judges accompanied Loya.

Further, the claim that Loya was taken to the hospital in an autorickshaw was dispelled by Justice Shukre, and two judges also denied that there was blood on Loya’s clothes, as claimed by the family in the Caravan report. Justice Gavai was quoted as saying,

“I rushed to Meditrina hospital along with fellow judge Justice Sunil Shukre…A few other judges followed, including then Chief Justice Mohit Shah, who had also attended the marriage of Swapna Joshi’s daughter. Loya’s life unfortunately couldn’t be saved. There was absolutely nothing suspicious about the death or the events around it.”

As this article by The Wire shows, there still remain some unanswered questions surrounding Loya’s death, including the claim of the family that he was offered a bribe by Mohit Shah J to deliver a verdict in favour of BJP lead Amit Shah, the prime accused in the Sohrabuddin case Loya was tasked with hearing.

Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave recently suggested in this interview with Bar & Bench,

“We don’t know how he died. But there is no doubt that his death has happened in extremely suspicious circumstances. It needs an immediate investigation at the highest level.”

Given the revelations made by Loya’s son and Justice Gavai, whether or not a probe will be called for is anybody’s guess.

Image taken from here.

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