Rahul demands SC-monitored probe into judge Loya's death, backs rebel SC judges

Mounting pressure on Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the "suspicious" death of judge B H Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, involving BJP President Amit Shah.

Rahul also came out in support of the four Supreme Court judges who raised "extremely important" points over the functioning of the apex court.

"The points that have been raised by the four judges are extremely important. They mentioned there is a threat to democracy. It needs to be looked into carefully," Rahul told a press conference on Friday evening after meeting senior lawyers including P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Vivek Tankha, Salman Khurshid and Manish Tewari.

Referring to the case of special CBI judge Loya, which is believed to have triggered the revolt in the Supreme Court, Rahul said it called for proper investigation by an independent SIT.

"They have made a point about judge Loya's case. It needs to be investigated properly. It needs to be looked at from the highest levels of the Supreme Court," the Congress president said.

'Unprecedented'

He termed the action of the four judges "unprecedented".

"Such a thing has never happened before. It is unprecedented and I think all citizens, who love the idea of justice, who believe in the honourable Supreme Court, are looking at this issue closely and I think it is important to be addressed," he said.

In a statement, the Congress appealed to the full court of the Supreme Court to take up the issues raised by the four judges and find solutions that were "consistent with the traditions and conventions of judiciary".

Judge Loya, who was hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, had died under mysterious circumstances in 2014. The apex court had on Thursday agreed to hear two separate pleas seeking independent probe into the death.