New Delhi, Jan 22: The Supreme Court has decided to club the two petitions before the Bombay High Court seeking probe into Justice B H Loya's death with the similar PILs it is currently hearing. The court on Monday also ordered other high courts across the nation to not to accept  petitions seeking investigation into the death of Justice Loya, as the matter is already being heard by the Chief Justice of India-led bench.

While hearing the two PILs today - filed by Mumbai-based journalist B R Lone and political activist Tehseen Poonawalla - the court contended the matter to be serious.

"We must look into all documents with utmost seriousness," the bench led by CJI Dipak Misra said, announcing the next date of hearing as February 2.

Among the two PILs before the Bombay HC, one was filed by the Bombay Lawyers' Association (BLA) which has demanded a court-monitored probe into the matter.

Earlier in the day, BLA's counsel, Dushyant Dave also accused the Maharashtra government of sharing incomplete facts related to the case with the petitioners.

Justice Loya, who was presiding over the Special CBI Court bench hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, died on December 1 in Nagpur after suffering a cardiac attack, as per the official claims.

The PILs seeking an independent inquiry into the case were earlier allotted to a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra. On Thursday, however, the bench recused itself, ordering the constitution of an "appropriate bench" to hear the matter.

On Saturday, it was announced that the case would be heard by a three-judge bench comprising CJI Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 22, 2018 03:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).