In his first major statement after taking charge as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray demanded an inquiry into the death of Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya. That was to hit at BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah. At the same time, Thackeray kept his line of friendly relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi open. An editorial in Shiv Sena’s mouthpiece “Saamna” described Narendra Modi as Uddhav Thackeray’s elder brother. Portents indicate a realignment of power structure within the BJP.
Brijgopal Harkishan Loya was a special CBI Judge in Mumbai where the Sohrabuddin Sheikh case was transferred on orders of the Supreme Court. Sohrabuddin was killed in an alleged fake encounter in 2005. The accused in the case included Amit Shah, then Minister of State for Home in Gujarat, and some senior police officers of Gujarat and Rajasthan. Judge Loya died on December 1, 2014 allegedly following a heart attack in Nagpur where he had gone to attend the marriage ceremony of the daughter of one of his colleagues. Four other judges, who had also attended the ceremony, said Loya died of heart attack.
Special CBI judge J T Utpat, was hearing the high profile case. The BJP formed the government at the Centre and Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister on May 26. Judge Utpat was abruptly transferred on June 25 — a day before he was to pronounce the order on a petition seeking the discharge of Amit Shah from the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. His transfer was in flagrant violation of the Supreme Court directive that the presiding judge in the case should not be replaced. Judge Utpat had expressed in strong words his displeasure at Amit Shah’s continued absence from the court during the trial. Then H B Loya was assigned to the case.
There were several discrepancies in the circumstances of Judge Loya’s death allegedly of heart attack. In a well-researched article, Caravan magazine had published documents to point out these discrepancies. PILs seeking an inquiry into Loya’s death were rejected both by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. The public, however, was not satisfied. Now by demanding an inquiry into Judge Loya’s death, Uddhav Thackeray has touched Shah’s raw nerve.
Judge Loya had also expressed his displeasure at Amit Shah’s absence during the hearing. On the last hearing in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case, judge Loya had directed Amit Shah’s lawyer to ensure that he (Shah) was present on the next hearing slated for December 15. Loya, however, died on December 1. Judge M B Gosavi who was appointed in Loya’s place, heard Amit Shah’s discharge petition from December 15 to 17 (2014) and dropped all charges against him on December 30. Predictably, the CBI did not challenge the judgement. It was followed by the discharge of the other accused persons.
There were several discrepancies in the circumstances of Judge Loya’s death allegedly of heart attack. In a well-researched article, Caravan magazine had published documents to point out these discrepancies. PILs seeking an inquiry into Loya’s death were rejected both by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court. The public, however, was not satisfied. Now by demanding an inquiry into Judge Loya’s death, Uddhav Thackeray has touched Shah’s raw nerve.
It was only after the Maharashtra Assembly election results were announced that Thackeray and Shah started moving away from each other. Before the elections, the alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena was finalised by Amit Shah and Uddhav Thackeray. The terms and conditions were not made public then. After the two parties jointly bagged a majority of the seats in the Assembly, Thackeray claimed that he and Shah had agreed on Chief Minister of each party for two and a half years. While other BJP leaders denied it, Shah kept quiet for nearly a fortnight. When he did speak, he did not categorically deny Thackeray’s claim but spoke only vaguely and refused to agree to any such power sharing, forcing the Shiv Sena leader to forge an alliance with NCP and Congress. In an adroit move, Thackeray had stated that Shah had apparently not briefed Modi about the agreement, thus keeping his line to the Prime Minister intact.
Besides, there were reports that Amit Shah was not in favour of repeating Devendra Fadnavis as Chief Minister and was not happy when Modi had named Fadnavis as the chief ministerial candidate during the campaign. Shah was reported to be in favour of elevating State BJP president Chandrakant Patil as the chief ministerial candidate. Now Thackeray has demanded an inquiry into Judge Loya’s death by declaring Modi as the elder brother. It should be interesting to watch what turn the BJP politics takes.
Views expressed here, are author’s personal opinion.
