Judge Loya case: Maharashtra govt slams bullying, browbeating of judges
“Your lordships should ward off bullying and fear-mongering by a bunch of lawyers...If the entire system dances to the tune of one man (Amit Shah), as has been alleged, we might as well up wind up this institution. Time has come you stop this immediately,” Harish Salve said.
Judge Loya died of a heart attack in December 2014.
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Minutes after advocate Prashant Bhushan questioned if the two judges of the Supreme Court from Maharashtra “should hear the matter”, where higher court judges from the state have been witness to the death of B H Loya, the Maharashtra government came down heavily on the petitioners on bullying and browbeating of judges, stating that the members of the judiciary should be “protected” by the court.
The court witnessed a heated exchange between Justice D Y Chandrachud and Bhushan, after the latter said: “The two sitting judges of the high court have given their statements (on death of judge Loya) and this indicates that they are witness to the case…Also, the government is only relied upon the intelligence report where four other judges have recorded their statement….If this is the case, then two judges of bench (referring to Justice A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud) who have served in Maharashtra and know these judges (HC judges), may not hear the case.”
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Responding to it, Chandrachud said: “If that is your argument then we will deal with it the way we deal a case. We must tell you, we ask ourselves in every case whether we should consider hearing the matter or not especially when the matter comes from high court….raise it squarely and we will answer.”
The exchange came in the backdrop of Bhushan’s argument that Loya might have died due to poisoning.
Referring to the argument made by Bhushan that two judges Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, who have served in Maharashtra should not hear the matter, Senior Advocate Harish Salve said “judges need to be protected” and ordering an inquiry would mean that the four judges, who have recorded their statement, will be treated as accused “in conspiracy of murder.”
Arguing on behalf of the Maharashtra government, Salve said: “Your lordships should ward off bullying and fear-mongering by a bunch of lawyers…If the entire system dances to the tune of one man (Amit Shah), as has been alleged, we might as well up wind up this institution. Time has come you stop this immediately.”
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
