CPI-M seeks high-level judicial probe into judge Loya’s death

New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Thursday demanded a high-level judicial probe into the death of special CBI judge H.P. Loya who was hearing the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.

The party raised the demand after news website "The Caravan" reported about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Loya in Nagpur in November 2014.

Loya was hearing the alleged fake encounter killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in Gujarat in 2005 in which BJP President Amit Shah was an accused.

"The family members of Justice Loya have alleged that attempts were made to bribe and intimidate him during the course of the trial. These have raised disturbing questions of murder, bribery, subversion of law and the manipulation of institutions of our parliamentary democracy at the highest level, which must be seriously investigated," the CPI-M said.

"The CPI-M demands that a high-level judicial enquiry be instituted immediately to look into this whole affair," it said.

Separately, the CPI-M also raised its concerns over the "Ordinance raj" unleashed by the Bhartaiya Janata Party (BJP) government and said the practice of bypassing Parliament in this way was "anti-democratic".

"The CPI-M registers its strong objection to the increasing recourse to the route of Ordinance raj that this BJP-led central government has been resorting to," the party said.

The government on Thursday promulgated an Ordinance to make changes to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Act.

It said the winter session of Parliament should "normally have been sitting at this time as this has been the practice for over half a century".

Bypassing the winter session and taking recourse to Ordinance raj was essentially anti-democratic at a time when Parliament was to meet soon, it said.

The CPI-M demanded that Parliament thoroughly discuss the amendment before it is put on the statute book.