MxMIndia

Ranjona Banerji: Further media investigations into Judge Loya’s death have only muddied already murky waters

"Unfortunately, in the public discourse, the death of Judge Loya has turned into "x" media version versus "y" media version, even among journalists. But a careful reading of all the stories still do not provide any answers to the apprehensions of the family as expressed to Caravan. The family told Caravan that the body arrived alone. A judge tells Indian Express that the body was not alone only the accompanying car had an accident along the way and therefore arrived alone. Therefore, the family is correct: the body did arrive alone," writes Ranjona Banerji

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By Ranjona Banerji

 

The Indian Express finally “investigated” allegations into the death of Judge Brijgopal Harkishan Loya, as many were exhorting the mainstream media to do. To recap, the judge was presiding the trial of BJP president Amit Shah in the death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, when Shah was home minister of Gujarat, at special CBI court in Mumbai. Loya died in Nagpur of a heart attack in 2014, a few days before he had called Shah to appear before him.

Caravan did a detailed investigation, based on the questions and testimony of Loya’s father, two of his sisters and a niece (some are on video) and found several discrepancies between the official version and the family’s version of events.

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/shocking-details-emerge

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/loya-chief-justice-mohit-shah-offer-100-crore-favourable-judgment-sohrabuddin-case

http://www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/video-testimonies-late-judge-bh-loya-family-raise-disturbing-questions-regarding-death

The Indian Express story as well as a report by NDTV’s website have now added to the confusion rather than providing any clarity into the events of the night of December 1, 2014.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/cbi-judge-bh-loya-death-amit-shah-sohrabuddin-case-nothing-suspicious-say-two-bombay-hc-judges-4956115/

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/from-nagpur-to-latur-retracing-last-few-hours-of-justice-loya-1780039

 

The name of the judge is different in various reports. The time on the ECG is clearly erroneous. The versions of the judges present at the Nagpur guest house and the staff at the guest house do not match. Details about the hospital to which Judge Loya was taken when he complained of chest pain do not match. Indian Express says Dande hospital is a trauma centre. NDTV says it is an orthopaedic hospital.

And most important of all, the family which was brave enough to make their suspicions public, have now gone into hiding. This is not surprising either.

Unfortunately, in the public discourse, the death of Judge Loya has turned into “x” media version versus “y” media version, even among journalists. But a careful reading of all the stories still do not provide any answers to the apprehensions of the family as expressed to Caravan. The family told Caravan that the body arrived alone. A judge tells Indian Express that the body was not alone only the accompanying car had an accident along the way and therefore arrived alone. Therefore, the family is correct: the body did arrive alone.

The role of RSS worker Ishwar Baheti, as alleged by the family, has not been investigated further. The fact that Loya’s mobile phone was returned days later with data deleted has not been investigated further. It is impossible to understand from the Indian Express version when the judges quoted arrived and at which hospital – Dande or Meditrina. If they were not at Dande, then how do they know what happened there? If the hospital authorities declared Loya dead at 6 am on December 1, how did the family get calls at 5 am informing them of his death?

Loya’s sister Dr Anuradha Biyani found several problems with the state of her brother’s body when it arrived home. She feels that standard post-mortem protocols were not followed. These have been glossed over with some general remarks about bloodstains on clothes being normal. The post-mortem accessed by Caravan says Loya’s clothes were “dry”. Which version is correct?

The family says the person who received Loya’s body is not known to them, although he called himself a cousin. Indian Express and NDTV find the man who is “related” in the most tenuous Indian way possible, with no blood shared. More questions therefore about the gentleman’s exact legal position.

All in all, the subsequent “investigations” have been disappointing. They have further muddied already murky waters. I cast no aspersions on any of the journalists involved. But it appears, at face value, that some more due diligence was required perhaps at senior editorial level. (Unless that is where the confusion has been created, which is not unusual. What is usual is that those given the byline face the flak.) The discrepancies are such that anyone can spot them. One can understand that the silence of the members of the family who spoke to Caravan makes clarification difficult. One can understand that it is fair to give a chance to those accused to offer their version.

But when the result is even more confusion, that it is unclear what purpose is served. The temptation to attribute motive and question reasoning becomes stronger. We live in difficult times with the media under greater scrutiny than normal. This requires more rigour from the media rather than less.

Unfortunately for Judge Loya and his family, the most glaring questions into his death remain unanswered and no suspicions have been cleared. Perhaps the probe has to move further, in other hands.

 

​Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are personal.

 

 

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