The Supreme Court has imparted legal quietus to the controversial case of Justice B H Loya’s death. A curative petition is still a theoretical possibility, although nothing substantial is likely to issue from the exercise of that option. Not even an FIR on the disputed circumstances of his death can now be filed. The SC was scathing in its indictment of the PIL and even went so far as to doubt the motives of the petitioners. Business and political rivalries ought to be settled in their respective domains and the judiciary must not be brought in to effectuate desirable outcomes, the court said, waxing trenchant. Holding the written statements of the four brother judges on Loya’s death to be indisputable—as also the medical and other documents—the court refused to entertain any scepticism on the conclusion that it was a natural death.
But however upset the Lordships say they are for the court being “used” for what they deemed was a politically motivated PIL, the legal closure they have sought to impart is unlikely to bring the curtains down on the whole Loya affair. The political slugfest will continue, perhaps even intensify. The BJP has been on a campaign to portray this as a Congress conspiracy to malign its party chief.
The Grand Old Party, its friends and allies are equally unlikely to stop raising the questions they feel have not been adequately answered and are still hanging in the air. Nor is the lack of consensus restricted to the political field. Remember, it was this issue that was singled out and named as one of the triggers for the unprecedented press conference held by the puisne judges of the Supreme Court, targeting Chief Justice Dipak Misra’s handling of the roster.
Also, a day after the judgment, the Opposition has initiated impeachment proceedings against the CJI, also an event without precedent. It is incumbent on all sides, however, even as they follow their tactics and conscience, that they retain a sense of dignity and gravitas around the higher judiciary. India needs all the institutional stability it can get.