MUMBAI : All might not be well for Home Minister Amit Shah yet, as Maharashtra govt on Wednesday said, it would consider investigation into the death of special CBI Judge BH Loya in 2014, if it gets any complaint with substantial evidence.
In a party meeting held in Mumbai, state minister Nawab Malid broached on Loya death case which had reached the Supreme Court. In the meeting chaired by NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena and NCP leaders discussed the case for around three hours. “If there is a complaint that contains some substance, then investigation will be done.” said Pawar.
CBI Judge BH Loya, was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Shekh fake encounter case of Gujarat, when he reportedly died of cardiac arrest on December 1. 2014 at Nagpur, where he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague’s daughter. The Supreme court held that Loya had died of “natural causes” and rejected PILs seeking an SIT probe into the death.
If the judge’s death is reinvestigated, it will resurrect alleged involvement of Union Home Minister Home Minister Amit Shah, into the Sohrabuddin encounter case.
The Sohrabuddin-Amit shah-Justice Loya Triangle
On 22 November 2005, Sohrabuddin Shaikh, his wife Kausar Bi and aid Tulsi Prajapati were returning from Hyderabad to Sangli in a bus when, they were taken into custody by the police. Sohrabuddin and Kausar Bi were shifted to a farmhouse in Ahmedabad, while Tulsi was dumped into a prison in Udaipur.
A joint police team of Gujarat and Rajasthan killed Sohrabuddin and his wife, allegedly in a fake encounter. Prajapati was also shot dead in a separate encounter at Gujarat-Rajasthan border, after being released from Udaipur Prison.
Following the deaths, Sohrabuddin’s family approached the Supreme Court and the case was handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation. Post the probe, CBI in July 2010 filed chargesheet against 38 persons including then Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah and then Rajasthan Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria. Two days later, Shah was arrested.
Amit Shah eventually bailed out on 23 October, 2012 and the apex court transferred the case from Gujarat to Mumbai to ensure fair trial. The presiding judge at Mumbai CBI court, JT Utpat, was shifted after he objected to Amit Shah’s absence during trial.
Justice Loya, who succeeded Utpat raised similar objection and served ultimatum to Shah for appearing in front of the court. Loya died suddenly before the deadline, following which Amit Shah was discharged from the case along with Gulabchand Kataria and 15 others.
