Chief Justice Dipak Misra's bench also comprises Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud
Highlights
- The case was one of the main triggers of last week's crisis in judiciary
- The bench will also include Justices AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud
- Chief Justice had ordered the case be put before the "appropriate bench"
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra will on Monday hear the case about Judge BH Loya's death, one of the main triggers for last week's
unprecedented crisis in India's judiciary.
The Chief Justice's bench, which also comprises Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, had yesterday fixed the next date of hearing and ordered that the case be put up "before the appropriate Bench as per the roster".
According to court documents issued on Saturday, it will continue to remain with the Chief Justice's bench.
Two petitions that sought an independent probe into Judge Loya's death had earlier been assigned to two judges including Justice Arun Mishra, the 10th most-senior judge of the Supreme Court.
But the two judges
remitted the case back to the Chief Justice on Tuesday in wake of an unseemly controversy after
four senior judges last week questioned what they called selective assignment of cases with far reaching consequences. The four - Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan Lokur and Kurien Joseph - had underscored that sensitive cases should be heard by senior judges.
They had confirmed that their complaints include the case of the death of a CBI judge, BH Loya.
Justice Arun Mishra, who was one of the two judges hearing the Judge Loya case, had later broken down at a closed-door meeting of judges at the Supreme Court, complaining that he was "unfairly" targeted and questions raised about his "competence". He was, however, reassured by Justice Chelameswar that he wasn't the target.
Judge Loya, 48, died in Nagpur in December 2014 while he was hearing a case that accused BJP chief Amit Shah of ordering a fake encounter in 2005. Weeks after the judge's death, Amit Shah was discharged from the case with a new judge ruling that there was no evidence to merit his trial.
Two months ago, judge Loya's relatives said his death was unnatural. His sister Anuradha Biyani also claimed that he was offered a huge bribe to rule in favour of Amit Shah. A Maharashtra journalist BS Lone and activist-petitioner Tehseen Poonawalla had filed a petition to seek an independent inquiry.
Judge Loya's son Anuj Loya, however, has now said that he did not have any suspicions about the death.