Maharashtra govt open to reinvestigation in Justice Loya death case: Home minister Anil Deshmukh
Mumbai, Jan 9: Maharashtra government is open to reinvestigating the death of special CBI judge B H Loya in 2014, state home minister Anil Deshmukh said here on Thursday.
Loya, who was hearing the high-profile Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case of Gujarat, died of cardiac arrest in Nagpur on December 1, 2014, when he had gone to attend the wedding of a colleague's daughter.
"Our government is open to reinvestigating the Loya death case. Some people are meeting me today to demand that the case be reopened. I will hear them out and if necessary, the case will be reinvestigated," Deshmukh told reporters.
Asked if Loya's family members were meeting him, the minister said, "I don't want to disclose that."
Meanwhile, Deshmukh praised the police officers who were part of the operation to nab fugitive gangster Ejaz Lakdawala from Patna on Wednesday night.
He said the gangster's daughter Shifa Shaikh had put 'Manish Advani' as her father's name in her passport.
"She was arrested in the fake passport case and Lakdawala was nabbed after the police came to know of his whereabouts. The police are investigating who is Manish Advani," he said.
Asked if the police officers who nabbed Lakdawala will be rewarded, he said, "They have gone a good job and a decision on rewarding them will be taken."
Lakdawala, who was earlier an associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and gangsters Chhota Shakeel and Chhota Rajan, was operating on his own since 2008-09, Deshmukh said.
"He has 26 extortion cases, four cases under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and 80 other complaints against him," the minister said.
On BJP's criticism that police were under political pressure to withdraw cases against those who protested the JNU violence at Gateway of India here, Deshmukh said the police were probing from where Mumbai resident Mehek Prabhu got the placard with the message "Free Kashmir", and what were her intentions behind displaying it.
"She has given her side of the story and after investigations are completed, a decision on the FIR will be taken," he said.
Deshmukh also said that he has sought a report on the status of probe into the Koregaon Bhima violence on January 1, 2018.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
