[Exclusive] Loya Case Judgment Tomorrow: Read The Summary Of High Voltage Hearing

Day 5 

Mr. Rohatgi had advanced submissions on the maintainability of PILs based on newspaper reports, the contents of the present petitions and the affidavits and the credentials of the petitioners

Day 6 

Mr. Rohatgi had reiterated the sequence of events leading to the death by heart attack of judge Loya, adding, “Attempts at  resuscitation were made at the Meditrina Hospital upon which judge Loya was pronounced as having been brought dead. The post mortem was directed as he had not died under the care of the hospital. Four judicial officers have confirmed this by a letter on their own letterheads, and in one case, in his own hand. These are letters written of their own accord and not in an interrogation. The High Court judges who reached the hospital at around 7 AM on the date of the death have also affirmed the same. The post mortem was conducted at 10 AM at a government hospital, after which the body was sent to judge Loya’s hometown. It is all contemporaneous”.

Commencing his rejoinder arguments, Mr. Dave had advanced, “The manner in which this matter is proceeding is not satisfactory. The matter cannot be thrown out at this stage...the pleadings need to be complete, otherwise, how will I controvert? The Supreme Court Rules require all statements to be on affidavit...a mere report cannot be taken on record...I am not sure why the court is reluctant to issue notice to the state to file affidavit. The court cannot allow these documents to be exchanged across the bar. These four judicial officers must be asked to come on affidavit. If they refuse, then there is a problem”

Mr. Dave had remarked, “In the past also, mysterious circumstances have surrounded judges who have stood in the path of the respondents, like Justice Patel in respect of the Ishrat Jahan encounter, while those who have acted in accordance with them have been rewarded”, which was followed by a war of words between himself and the counsel for the respondents.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, having filed an intervention application on behalf of CPIL, has drawn the attention of the bench to additional evidence retrieved under RTI queries-

“Samples of judge Loya’s heart (muscle tissue and arteries) were sent for histopathology examination. The report says that everything was normal, while it is well known that in the event of a heart attack, one part of the muscles die. Further, it is apparent from the ECG report that it could not be of a person who has had a heart attack half an hour back”.

Recapitulating the grounds for the rejection of the discreet inquiry report of the Maharashtra state Intelligence, Mr. Dave had summarised, “the apex court had assigned the investigation (in the Sohrabuddin murder) to the CBI and directed the trial to be transferred outside of Gujarat. There was the force dictum that the trial shall be conducted by a single judge from start to finish. Despite that, judge Utpat was transferred and judge Loya was inducted, who mandated the presence of the accused. The hearing had been adjourned to December 15, 2014, but judge Loya died on December 1, 2014. The new judge discharged the  accused (Amit Shah) and no appeal was preferred by the CBI...Your Lordships should suo motu direct the CBI to appeal...then the Caravan article appeared, followed by the state government constituting a one-man committee for the discreet inquiry...there are the interviews of judge Loya’s father and sisters and the handwritten letter of February, 2015 which are in stark contrast with the subsequent self serving statements procured from them...”

Thereupon, Advocate Prashant Bhushan had commenced his arguments on behalf of the CPIL.