IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION I.A NO OF 2018 WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 19 OF 2018 NEW DELHI PETITIONER

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1 1 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION I.A NO OF 2018 IN WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 19 OF 2018 In the matter of: TEHSEEN POONAWALLA S/o SARFARAZ POONAWALLA R/o A-46, SOUTH EX. -II, TOP FLOOR, NEW DELHI PETITIONER VERSUS 1. UNION OF INDIA THROUGH ITS SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS, NORTH BLOCK, CABINET SECRETARIAT, NEW DELHI RESPONDENT NO THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA THROUGH CHIEF SECRETARY, MANTRALAYA, MUMBAI MAHARASHTRA RESPONDENT NO. 2 AND IN THE MATTER OF: ADMIRAL MR. LAXMINARAYAN RAMDAS (RETD.) S/O LATE SHRI C.K. LAXMINARAYAN R/O LARA RAMU FARM,

2 2 VILLAGE BHAIMALA, PO KAMARLE, ALIBAG , DIST RAIGAD, MAHARASHTRA.APPLICANT/INTERVENER WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS ON THE INCONSISTENCIES IN DOCUMENTS TENDERED BY STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND INCORRECT PROCEDURE BY THE POLICE IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF JUDGE B.H. LOYA S DEATH PREPARED BY MS. INDIRA JAISING, SENIOR ADVOCATE The following circumstances create a suspicion that Judge Loya s death was not a natural death: 1. There is no entry of Judge Loya having stayed at Ravi Bhawan in the occupancy register for to , despite the fact that several other VIPs names find entry in the occupancy register. This creates suspicion as to whether he stayed there at all. The enlarged Photos of the relevant pages of the occupancy register of Ravi Bhawan have been handed over. 2. The statement of Judge S.M. Modak (Page 48 Maharashtra Documents) that three judges stayed in Room No. 10 in Ravi Bhawan is unbelievable, considering that it is a room of 2 beds only, and further considering that there were other vacant rooms in Ravi Bhawan. Photographs of Room no. 10 are annexed herewith as Annexure-1 [Page to ]. 3. Despite the presence of 2 judicial officers (Judge Shrikant Kulkarni and Judge S.M. Modak) at the time when Judge Loya is alleged to have complained of pain in the chest and 4 judicial officers (Judge Kulkarni, Judge Modak, Judge Vijay C. Barde, Judge R.R. Rathi) were present in the hospital, his name is spelt wrongly in the records of both the hospitals, i.e. Dande Hospital and Meditrina Hospital, as also in the Post Mortem Report prepared by Civil Surgeon of the Government Medical College. In the place of Brijgopal he has been described as Brijmohan (Name incorrectly spelled on Page(s) 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 54 Maharashtra Documents).

3 3 4. The ECG that is alleged to have been done at Dande Hospital has not been produced before this Hon ble Court by the State of Maharashtra. There is a copy of the ECG purported to be done/conducted on Judge Loya in Dande Hospital which bears the date of 30 th November 2014 available in the Indian Express newspaper report on The said news report also recorded that when Dr. Pinak Dande was asked about the discrepancy in the data, he said The date November 30 appearing on the ECG may have been due to a technical glitch arising out of a machine calibration issue. His statement is contradicted by the statement of Judge R.R. Rathi (Page Maharashtra Documents) which says At that time the doctor tried to do his ECG but the nodes of the ECG machine were broken. Doctor tried and wasted some time but machine was not working. I think he gave 2 injections to Mr. Loya. I asked the doctor he said it of antacid and painkiller. Judge R.R. Rathi s statement casts a doubt on the medical records of Dande Hospital and Meditrina Hospital in as much as it clearly indicates that no ECG was done at Dande Hospital. 5. The Doctor s progress report at Meditrina Hospital refers to an ECG being done of Judge Loya (Page 16 Maharashtra Documents). No such ECG has been produced on record by the State of Maharashtra. 6. An accident report is generated at Sitabardi P.S. at 08:30 a.m. is by way of information given by Dr. Prashant Rathi (Page 19 Maharashtra Documents) under Section 174 Cr.P.C. It was obligatory at 08:30 a.m. for the police to notify the Executive Magistrate which has not been done (See section 174 Cr.P.C.). The consequence of this is that the Executive Magistrate has been deprived of an opportunity to visit the hospital, if he so deems fit, and make his own observations. 7. It appears that a Death Investigation Report under Section 174 Cr.P.C. was generated - conducted from 10:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m. (at Page Maharashtra Documents) addressed to Government Medical College, Nagpur. The document states that the death must be heart attack. However to ascertain the actual cause of death, we are sending the dead body with PC Pankaj B. No for Post-Mortem along with necessary papers.

4 4 There is no mention about what were the papers accompanying the death investigation report. The letter states However to ascertain the actual reason/cause of death, the dead body is sent to the Medical Officer [LMJ Saheb, Medical Hospital] It is important to note however, that the Executive Magistrate has not been informed of the death having occurred as required by Section 174 Cr.P.C. 8. Thereafter it appears that from 10:55 a.m. 11:55 a.m. a Post-Mortem was conducted (see Page Maharashtra Documents) where the cause of death is recorded as Coronary Artery Insufficiency (Page 31 Maharashtra Documents). 9. The following are the discrepancies in the Post-Mortem Report of Judge Loya (Page Maharashtra Documents) - a. Post-Mortem Report [Page 25] has been altered by correcting the name on 10 th January, 2015: b. Post-Mortem Report [Page 25] shows the date of death is with no explanation. c. Post-Mortem Report [Page 25] shows overwriting on the date of death from to d. The cause of death has been shown as Coronary Artery Insufficiency [Page 31]. 10. Thereafter it appears that at Page 33 Maharashtra Documents, dead body of Brijmohan Harkishan Loya was handed over from P.S. Sitabardi to Dr. Prashant Rathi. Although there is mention at Page 33 that all his belongings for performing last rites was handed over to Dr. Prashant Rathi, The Panchnama of the personal belongings of the deceased have not been produced. This record acquires relevance in the light of the fact that Judge Loya s sister Anuradha Biyani has alleged that his mobile phone was returned a few days later with all messages deleted (The Caravan news report dated at Page 9 Maharashtra Documents). 11. It appears that the Accidental Death case AD 00/14 recorded under Section 174 Cr.P.C. (at Page 19 Maharashtra Documents) was transferred to P.S. Sadar at 04:00 p.m. The Second Accident Report A.D. 44/14 (Page 35-35A Maharashtra Documents) is alleged to have

5 5 been made at 04:00 p.m. at Sadar Police Station once again under Section 174 Cr.P.C. At this stage also the Executive Magistrate is not informed. 12. The case diary of P.S. Sitabardi or of Sadar Police Station has not been produced which would have indicated: a. The time at which the police received the first call about the death of Justice Loya; b. The time of generating the accident report at Sitabardi police station stated to be 08:30 a.m. (Page 19 Maharashtra Documents); c. The time of the Death Inspection Report (Page 23 Maharashtra Documents) at a.m. d. The time of transfer from Sitabardi police station to Sadar Police Station stated to be 04:00 p.m. e. The Medical records, if any, which were available with the police at the time of the First Accident Report at 08:30am, (Page 19 Maharashtra Documents), at the time of the Death Investigation Report at 10:30 am (Page 23 Maharashtra Documents) and the Medical Progress Report (Page 16 Maharashtra Documents), the Medical Records if any sent to the Government Medical College for the Post- Mortem. f. The steps taken by the police to inform the executive magistrate under Section 174 Cr.P.C., if any. 13. It appears that no steps have been taken by the police to collect the additional documents from the two hospitals Dande Hospital and Meditrina Hospital to ascertain the cause of death. The procedure prescribed by law under Section 174 Cr.P.C. has not been followed. It appears that no enquiry has been done by the police or by anyone else at the inquest under Section 174 Cr.P.C., such as, for example - verifying the cause of death, looking at the medical records, summoning medical records of both hospitals, ascertaining the medical history of the deceased with the family to check if there was any prior history of a coronary problem causing coronary artery insufficiency or whether the cause of the heart attack was due to some other reason.

6 6 14. It is significant to note that Dr. Prashant Rathi is not a relative within the meaning of Section 176 Cr.P.C., which defines relative under Explanation to the Section to mean Explanation. In this section, the expression "relative" means parents, children, brothers, sisters and spouse.. Intimation of the Post-Mortem ought to have been given to the relatives of Judge Loya which was not done. 15. A document dated has been produced on record as Accidental Death Summary (Page Maharashtra Documents) being intimation by the police to the Executive Magistrate. There is no explanation as to why this document has been dated without intimating the Executive Magistrate on at the time of occurrence of death and what steps were taken since then till Therefore the said letter/accidental Death Summary dated is meaningless. It reinforces the submission that no inquest was conducted under Section 174 of the Cr.P.C. 16. Judge Loya s sister, Anuradha Biyani s version made in The Caravan report dated that the ambulance came unaccompanied by any judicial officer is corroborated by the statement of Justice Bhushan Gawai of the Bombay High Court made to the Indian Express in its report dated Justice Gawai had stated that the 2 judicial officers who were travelling in their own separate car, with the ambulance carrying the body of Judge Loya, had a break down and were arrived delayed about 15 minutes (see Page 129 I.A /2018 paperbook). Dr. Anuradha Biyani s statement in the Caravan report dated that she was told that judge Loya climbed the stairs to Dande Hospital is corroborated by Judge R.R. Rathi in his statement dated to the State Intelligence Officer (Page 52 Maharashtra Documents), lending credibility of her version of the events of The version of Dr. Pinak Dande (see page 54 Maharashtra Documents) as also the medical records of Dande Hospital and Meditrina Hospital (see page 16 Maharashtra Documents) that an ECG was done are belied by Judge R.R. Rathi s statement to the State Intelligence Officer, who said that the nodes of the ECG machine were broken (see page 52 Maharashtra Documents).

7 7 18. The said Article of the Caravan dated also notes (at Page 14 Maharashtra Documents) that Judge Loya s son, Anuj Loya has addressed a letter dated to the then Chief Justice of Maharashtra High Court calling for an inquiry. The said letter was addressed to his family on the occasion when the then Chief Justice of High Court went to visit the family about two and half months after Judge Loya died. Anuj Loya records in his letter dated that he requested the then Chief Justice of High Court to set up an inquiry commission. Copy of the letter dated written by Anuj Loya is annexed herewith as Annexure - 2 (Page ). 19. It is submitted that the statements of family members produced by the State of Maharashtra have been taken under duress and do not inspire confidence. 20. Judge J.T. Utpat presiding over the special CBI Court in Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter trial was transferred on with immediate effect, in violation of the order of the Supreme Court of India dated reported in CBI v. Amitbhai Anil Chandra Shah [(2012) 10 SCC 545], therefore the records of the Administrative Committee of the High Court must be produced. MS. INDIRA JAISING DATE: SENIOR ADVOCATE PLACE: NEW DELHI