Cong demands probe into judge Loya's death, says points raised by SC judges 'disturbing'

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday described the unprecedented action of four Supreme Court judges of listing out the problems afflicting the institution as "extremely disturbing" and said the concerns raised by them will have far-reaching consequences. The party also demanded a probe monitored by a top Supreme Court judge in the death of judge BH Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case. Addressing a press conference here in the presence of senior leaders, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "The four SC judges raised extremely important points. They spoke about a threat to democracy which needs to be looked into". "This type of thing has never happened before. It is unprecedented. All citizens who love the idea of justice, who believe in the Supreme Court are looking at this issue and it is important that it is addressed," Gandhi said. ALSO READ: Full text of the letter four Supreme Court judges wrote to Chief Justice He said the death of judge B H Loya needs to be probed at the highest levels of the Supreme Court. "They (four SC Judges) have made a point about Judge Loya's case. It needs to be investigated properly. It needs to be looked at from the highest levels of the Supreme Court," he added. Before Gandhi, Congress media in-charge Randeep Surjewala spoke to the media and said that the issues raised by four SC judges are extremely disturbing, and have far-reaching consequences for values we hold sacred.

The Congress Party earnestly appeals that the Full Court of the Supreme Court should take up the issues raised by the four Honourable Judges and find solutions that are consistent with the traditions and conventions of the Judiciary.

Our Statement:- pic.twitter.com/uyqILnrX5E — Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 12, 2018

Before the press briefing, Rahul Gandhi chaired a meeting of senior Congress leaders at his residence to decide on party's take on SC judges issue. Four senior judges of the Supreme Court on Friday mounted a virtual revolt against the chief justice, listing a litany of problems that they said are afflicting the country's highest court and warned they could destroy Indian democracy. The unprecedented move at a joint news conference by the four judges including Justice J Chelameswar, the second senior judge after the Chief Justice of India, left the judiciary and observers stunned, leaving uncertain how this open dissension in the hallowed institution would be resolved. ALSO READ: Four senior judges criticise case-allocation by Chief Justice Dipak Misra Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday also said the 2014 death of judge BH Loya, who was hearing sensitive cases, was a serious matter and asked the Maharashtra government to explain why an independent probe should not be ordered. Loya's court was handling the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, in which BJP president Amit Shah was one of the accused. Loya died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter. Shah was later discharged by the court from the case. The top court also asked the state government to submit post-mortem report of Loya. (With inputs from PTI)