The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to review its April 19 verdict that Judge B.H. Loya died of natural causes and not foul play.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud said it found no reason to interfere with the verdict, which had rejected the PIL petitions seeking a SIT probe into the death.
The April 19 judgment had called the PILs “a frontal attack on the independence of the judiciary and to dilute the credibility of judicial institutions.”
The Supreme Court had foreclosed any future litigation or investigation on the death of the judge.
The Bombay Lawyers Association had moved the Supreme Court to review the judgment, contending that it was “manifestly wrong” and against public interest.
It had contended that a plea to the Supreme Court to order an independent inquiry into the death of a serving judge can “under no circumstance be treated as an attack on the independence of the judiciary.”
The association, which was represented by senior advocate Dushyant Dave, said the entire judgment based itself on an “unaffirmed report” of an enquiry held by the Commissioner, Maharashtra State Intelligence.
The State had depended entirely on this report for its defence without even filing an affidavit, it said.
