son(Eds: Updating with fresh inputs)Mumbai, Jan 14 (PTI) The son of special CBI judge B HLoya today said the family was convinced that his father haddied of natural causes.
"My father died of natural causes, our family isconvinced it was a natural death... I have made myself clearthat we do not have a suspicion... It was a natural death,"Anuj Loya told PTI.
Asked about the petitions filed before the Bombay HighCourt and Supreme Court seeking a probe into his father'sdeath, Anuj said, "I do not have anything to say about it. Iam no one to talk about it.
"I am speaking on behalf of the entire family, includingmy aunt and my grandfather. We are clear about it."On the future course of action the family intended totake, he said they were "trying to get things normal".
Earlier, at a press conference here, Anuj said althoughhe and his family earlier had suspicions about his father'sdeath, they no longer harboured such doubts.
Anuj, 21, while stating that his family was "pained" bythe things happening over his father's death, told reportersthat NGOs and politicians should stop "harassing" his familyover the issue.
"I had an emotional turmoil, hence I had suspicions abouthis death. But now we do not have any doubts about the way hedied," the son of the late judge told reporters.
"Earlier, my grandfather and aunt had some doubts abouthis death, which they shared. But now neither of them has anydoubts," he said.
The deceased judge's father and Anuj's aunt had allegedfoul play behind his death.
Justice Loya, who was hearing the sensitive SohrabuddinSheikh "fake encounter" case, had allegedly died of a cardiacarrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone toattend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.
BJP chief Amit Shah was an accused in the case and wassubsequently discharged.
With tears in his eyes, Anuj told reporters, "We facedsome pressure from politicians and NGOs. We do not want toname anyone, but please excuse my family from continuouslyasking about my father's death.""By going through some media reports and everything,(my) family is facing a lot of troubles... because of the allthe things happening. We do not have any allegations againstanyone. We are really pained... We are trying to get out ofthese things.
"I request you people, please do not try to harass ortrouble us. I want to convey to you all," he said.
K B Katake, retired district judge and a family friend ofLoya, who was also present at the conference, said, "The 85-year-old father of B H Loya is being harassed by some people,who are asking some questions in respect of the death of hisonly son and that creates panic in the family.""There was no suspicion in the mind of any familymember with respect to the death of justice Loya. However, thepeople are harassing and making the family members panic," hesaid.
"His (Anuj's) mother is ill. Every day she requiresmedical treatment. On behalf of Loya's family, I request youall media people to convey to those NGOs, lawyers andpoliticians not to go to his family, not to meet them andharass them like this with respect to the death of Loya," theformer district judge said.
Katake and Anuj, along with his cousin Pratik Bhandari,spoke to the media at a lawyer's office at Nariman Point insouth Mumbai.
Anuj is a second year student of law in a Pune-basedcollege.
Katake said, "He (Anuj) is studying in the second year.
Many people are visiting him, disturbing his studies. So onhis behalf, I am requesting, being a family friend and acolleague of Loya (to stop visiting them). The family can livein peace. They have been suffering for the last three years."Asked about the video statement issued by his aunt andgrandfather in the past, Anuj said, "Even they are clear aboutit now. They had some suspicions because of the emotionalturmoil at that time."Asked whether he wanted an investigation in the matter,he said, "I am no one to decide about it. I do not have anysuspicions."Commenting about the letter penned by him in February2015, wherein he had raised suspicions, Anuj said, "It was aperiod of emotional turmoil. I was 17 at that time. I did notknow what exactly was going on.
"I did not have any information that something was amissat that time," he said.
Bhandari said about Anuj's aunt's allegations: "It is notthat we have withdrawn those allegations. But if you areconsistently going to ask an 85-year-old man about his son'sdeath, how would he react?"Katake said, "In this respect, if a sudden death takesplace, some people are going to raise suspicions. These peoplewho were emotionally disturbed... they came in the grip oftheir emotions and made some allegations."The Supreme Court had on Friday termed a "serious matter"the issue of alleged mysterious death of Loya and sought aresponse from the Maharashtra government on the pleas seekingan independent probe into it.
The Congress had said the PIL concerning the death ofLoya must be entrusted with the seniormost judges of the apexcourt, who should ensure that under their supervision therewas a "thorough and impartial" investigation by an independentSIT.
The Bombay Lawyers' Association (BLA) had yesterdayclaimed that a petition filed in the Supreme Court, seeking aprobe into the death of judge Loya, was "motivated".
Anuj's press conference comes two days after fourseniormost judges mounted a virtual revolt against thecountry's chief justice, raising questions on "selective" caseallocation and certain judicial orders.
One of the four seniormost judges, who held anunprecedented press conference on Friday, had said the matterinvolving judge Loya's death was one of the issuesunderpinning their differences with Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
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This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.