New Delhi: As the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Judge BH Loya died of natural causes and the petitions seeking further investigation were attacks on the judiciary, the judgment soon turned into a political slugfest with both opposition Congress and ruling BJP pulling each other up over the intent of petitions.
While the Congress called it a sad day and raised questions over the Supreme Court verdict rejecting a batch of pleas seeking probe into the alleged mysterious death of Loya; BJP leaders on the other hand alleged that these PILs were nothing but propaganda against the ruling party.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi wrote in a tweet, "Indians are deeply intelligent. Most Indians, including those in the BJP, instinctively understand the truth about Mr Amit Shah. The truth has its own way of catching up with people like him."
BJP leaders Meenakshi Lekhi and Aman Sinha on Thursday said the PILs on the death of special CBI judge BH Loya was a kind of "blackmail and propaganda machinery" aimed at maligning the people in power and the Congress leadership should apologise to BJP President Amit Shah.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh hailed the SC verdict and said that the judiciary cannot be misled by allegations based on political vendetta. He came down heavily on "several attempts" to target the BJP and its top leaders through "fake" cases.
"It is extremely unfortunate that there have been several attempts of targeting the BJP and assassinating the character of its top leaders on the basis of fake facts'. These attempts have failed miserably once again," Singh said on Twitter.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra dismissed a clutch of petitions, seeking a probe into circumstances leading to death of Loya in 2014 when the judge was hearing the high profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter killing case from Gujarat.
Attacking the BJP for accusing Congress president Rahul Gandhi as being the invisible hand behind the petitions seeking the probe, party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala termed the allegations as a malicious attempt that showed the ruling party's jitteriness.
“It is a sad day in India's history. The suspicious circumstances in which Loya died was a matter of deep concern for those who have faith in the judiciary. The copy of the entire judgment is not yet available. But there are still questions before those who believe in the judiciary, Surjewala told reporters here.
Surjewala raised 10 questions relating to the case as he criticised the verdict and noted that issue of criminality can be decided only through a probe, contending that no investigation was done into the death of Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, too, said that the apex court's verdict dismissing the pleas seeking an independent probe into Loya's death will raise more questions and leave many of them unanswered unless logical reasons were found in it.
Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath welcomed the Supreme Court's verdict and wrote in a tweet, "Rahul does not want that any person other than someone from the Gandhi family should run the country. The Congress stands exposed."
Referring to a Congress press conferences and a Rahul Gandhi-led delegation to the President for a probe into Judge Loya's death, the chief minister said the apex court verdict on the issue has exposed the "ugly face" of the Congress.
Several other BJP leaders and senior ministers, including Prakash Javadekar, addressed the issue and welcomed the verdict.
Not just political parties, former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the pleas seeking probe into the death of judge Loya were filed with vested interests and the purpose was to attack the functioning of the government.
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