Judge Loya Hearing [Day-3] Dave Vs Shishodia, Salve And Lots More [Courtroom Exchange]

The string of writ petitions seeking an independent probe into the death of Judge Loya witnessed another eventful hearing on Monday. As the hearing resumed before the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice D. Y. Chandrachud and Justice A. M. Khanwilkar, Senior Counsel Dushyant Dave, appearing on behalf of the Bombay Lawyers’ Association, sought permission to bring on record additional evidence, including the video recordings of Loya’s father and sister.Thereupon, Senior Counsel V. Giri proceeded to elaborate on the contradictions in the 2017 discreet inquiry report of the Commissioner of State Intelligence- “The report says that at around 4 AM on December 1, 2014, Loya complained of chest pain and was taken to Dande Hospital. From there, around 5 AM, he was being taken to Meditrina Hospital, accompanied by judges Barde, Modak and Kulkarni in 2 separate cars. Loya collapsed on the way. Around 7 AM, the then Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and two other High Court judges reached the Meditrina Hospital”.Breaking: Judge Loya Case- Dushyant Dave Files Application For Examining 11 Persons Including 2 Judges Before SC [Read Application]Throwing light on the contradictions, he continued, “There is nothing on record to show that judge Loya stayed at the government guesthouse Ravi Bhawan in Nagpur. There are No medical reports of Dande Hospital. Also, there has been no verification has been made of the doctors. Besides, there is no ECG report”.Continuing in the same thread, he advanced, “PS Sitabardi recorded Dr. Prashant Rathi’s statement at 8:33 AM. The post mortem was carried out by one Dr. Tumram only at 10 AM on December 1, 2014. And the case diary of the accidental death was transferred to PS Sadar at around 4 PM. There is no verification of the fact of handing over of the body to Dr. Rathi by Police Constable Pankaj of PS Sitabardi. Also, when the records had been transferred to PS Sadar, how was the body handed over by a constable of PS Sitabardi?”Emphasising on the reasons why an independent inquiry is indispensable, Mr. Giri submitted, “The letter dated November 23, 2017 of the Commissioner of State Intelligence addressed to the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court named the four judicial officers and 2 high court judges who allegedly accompanied judge Loya. How was that conclusion arrived at prior to the inquiry? Further, Upon receiving permission from the High Court, instead of seeking appointments with the judicial officers, the Commissioner sent them letters.The Commissioner makes an assertion that the versions of the persons privy to the incident have been verified. But how? He only met the judicial officers and did not record the statement of other associated persons. Even Prashant Rathi’s statement was taken by some other person. It seems he conducted the discreet inquiry sitting in his armchair in Mumbai”.Judge Loya Case: Senior Advocate V. Giri Points Out Inconsistencies In Official Version Before SC [Read Written Submissions]“The medical officer at Dande was not examined. There is a contradiction regarding whether Loya was taken to Dande in judge Barde’s car accompanied with judges Kulkarni, Modak and Rupesh Rathi. Dr. Pankaj Harkut’s statement, a neurosurgeon at Meditrina, was not recorded. It also not clear why a neurosurgeon was even required. The inquiry should have conducted in a more concrete manner. The incident happened in 2014; why was the Commissioner so complacent as to not have the persons at Nagpur privy to the episode examined? He should have visited the Meditrina Hospital and sought verification from Dr. Rohan and Dr. Gawande but he did not. That judge Shriram Kulkarni admitted Loya at the hospital, there is only a letter from Kulkarni on evidence thereof and no verification was carried out, Mr. Giri submitted.At this point, Mr. Dave exclaimed, “I will be filing an application under Order 11 of the Supreme Court Rules to seek permission to cross examine these judicial officers. There is a judgment to that effect”.“We also need the original documents. The ones on record are illegible”, added Senior Counsel Indira Jaising.“The identity of the author of the note that emergency medication, shocks etc were administered to Loya at Meditrina is not verified. All that was needed to be done was to ask the author if they signed the note and if they affirm its contents. But that was not done. There was a primary consultant and a secondary consultant at Meditrina. Why was the latter’s statement not taken?”, Mr. Giri proceeded with his submissions.“The accidental death report was registered at PS Sitabardi based on the statement of Prashant Rathi. Why did the intimation not come from the four judicial officers? Sub inspector Munthe Constable Pankaj of PS Sitabardi were not examined. We have documents to show that the inquiry under section 174 Cr. P. C. was actually handed over to PS Sadar but there is a discrepancy as to whether at 4 PM or 8 PM”, Mr. Giri...

Judge Loya Hearing [Day-3] Dave Vs Shishodia, Salve And Lots More [Courtroom Exchange]

Mehal Jain

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