Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government for its opposition to the probe into judge BH Loya’s allegedly suspicious death. Judge Loya, at the time of his death, was hearing the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case.
Raising doubts over the government’s position, Chavan questioned who was being inconvenienced by the demand for a fair probe into the case. Chavan was speaking at the state assembly while participating in a debate over the deteriorating law-and-order situation.
The state government has appointed senior counsel, Mukul Rohatgi and Harish Salve, to defend its case in the Supreme Court on the matter, said Chavan. He asked, “Who does the state government want to shield? Who is being inconvenienced by a demand of fair probe into the case?”
The former chief minister further said judge Loya was hearing the Sohrabuddin Shaikh encounter case, in which the then home minister of Gujarat was externed from the state for six months. On the directives of the Supreme Court, the trial of the case was shifted from Ahmedabad to Maharashtra.
“Judge Loya was under tremendous pressure over the case. There is a buzz that he was also offered Rs100 crore for a favourable order. He died under suspicious circumstances at Nagpur, where he had gone to attend a wedding along with two colleagues. He died due to a heart attack. He was first taken to an orthopedic hospital, which did not have an ECG (electrocardiogram) facility. He was then taken to another hospital, where he was declared dead before arrival,” Chavan said.
{{/usCountry}}“Judge Loya was under tremendous pressure over the case. There is a buzz that he was also offered Rs100 crore for a favourable order. He died under suspicious circumstances at Nagpur, where he had gone to attend a wedding along with two colleagues. He died due to a heart attack. He was first taken to an orthopedic hospital, which did not have an ECG (electrocardiogram) facility. He was then taken to another hospital, where he was declared dead before arrival,” Chavan said.
{{/usCountry}}He added the state should clarify its stand on the request to ban the Sanatan Sanstha. The request for the ban had been made to the Centre by the then Congress-NCP government in 2011. He said the state government had sent a 1,000-page dossier to the Centre over its queries on the demand.
Meanwhile, former home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator, Jayant Patil, asked for a probe into the allegations that absconding industrialist Vijay Mallya had given a Rs35-crore cheque to the ruling BJP.
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