“A judicial probe at this point, at least to respond to the queries raised by the family, and to uphold the image of the judiciary in the eyes of the people of India, is absolutely necessary.”
BJP chief Amit Shah and the late judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya. Credit: PTI/Caravan
New Delhi: Thirty-two signatories, including retired secretaries to the government of India, four former ambassadors and a former chief information commissioner of a state government, today appealed to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and the chief justice of the Bombay high court to order a high level probe into the death of Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya.
The appeal attached the request made by former Navy chief Admiral (Retd.) L. Ramdas, also to the CJI and the chief justice of the Bombay high court, that a high level judicial enquiry be initiated into the controversial circumstances of the death of Judge Loya. Justice (Retd.) B. H. Marlapalle, former judge of the Bombay high court and Justice (Retd.) A. P. Shah, former chief justice of the Delhi high court have also expressed the need for an enquiry.
The pleas seeking a probe have followed two reports the Caravan magazine published that quoted immediate members of Loya’s family, who questioned the circumstances surrounding his death. Loya, who was presiding over the CBI court in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, passed away on December 1, 2014, after a heart attack while in Nagpur to attend a colleague’s daughter’s wedding.
The letter stated:
We, the undersigned retired civil servants, would like to place on record our support for the request made by Admiral (Retd.) L. Ramdas to institute a “high level judicial inquiry” into this matter and urge you to take appropriate action for all the reasons mentioned in his representation.
In Admiral Ramdas’s letter, he stressed the importance of democratic institutions – the executive, the legislature and the judiciary – and the constitution. The letter said: “A judicial probe at this point, at least to respond to the queries raised by the family, and to uphold the image of the judiciary in the eyes of the people of India, is absolutely necessary.”
The signatories to the letter are as follows:
- S.P. Ambrose, IAS (Retd.), former Additional Secretary, Ministry of Shipping and Transport, GoI
- Ishrat Aziz, IFS (Retd.), former Ambassador to Brazil
- G. Balagopal, IAS (Retd.), former Resident Representative, UNICEF, North Korea
- Sundar Burra, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Government of Maharashtra
- Kalyani Chaudhuri, IAS (Retd.), former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal
- Vibha Puri Das, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, GoI
- Keshav Desiraju, IAS (Retd.), former Health Secretary, GoI
- M.G. Devasahayam, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary to Government of Haryana
- Sushil Dubey, IFS (Retd.), former Ambassador to Sweden
- K.P.Fabian, IFS (Retd.), former Ambassador to Italy
- Meena Gupta, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, GoI
- Deepa Hari, IRS (Resigned)
- Dr Sajjad Hassan, IAS (Retd.), former Commissioner (Planning), Govt. of Manipur
- K. John Koshy, IAS (Retd.), former State Chief Information Commissioner, West Bengal
- Ajai Kumar, Indian Forest Service (Resigned), former Director, Ministry of Agriculture, GoI
- Arun Kumar, IAS (Retd.), former Chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
- Harsh Mander, IAS (Retd.), Government of Madhya Pradesh
- Aditi Mehta, IAS (Retd.), former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan
- Sunil Mitra, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Ministry of Finance, GoI
- Deb Mukharji, IFS (Retd.), former Ambassador to Nepal
- Anup Mukerji, IAS (Retd.), former Chief Secretary, Government of Bihar
- Alok Perti, IAS (Retd.) former Secretary, Ministry of Coal, GoI
- N.K. Raghupathy, IAS (Retd.), former Chairman, Staff Selection Commission, GoI
- Aruna Roy, IAS (Resigned)
- Manab Roy, IAS (Retd.), former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal
- Umrao Salodia, IAS (Retd.), former Chairman, Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation, Government of Rajasthan
- Deepak Sanan, IAS (Retd.), former Principal Adviser (AR) to the Chief Minister of the Government of Himachal Pradesh
- E.A.S. Sarma, IAS, (Retd.), former Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, GoI
- Dr.N.C.Saxena, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Planning Commission, GoI
- Ardhendu Sen, IAS (Retd.), former Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal
- Dr. Raju Sharma, IAS (Retd.), former Member, Board of Revenue, Government of Uttar Pradesh
- Jawhar Sircar, IAS (Retd.), former Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI, and CEO, Prasar Bharati
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Also read: Death of a Judge: What We Know, What We Don’t Know
Read the full text of the report:
Report on Admiral Ramdas’ Request by The Wire on Scribd