New Delhi: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday placed in the Supreme Court in a sealed cover a report containing materials related to the death of CBI judge B.H. Loya, who had been hearing the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case in which BJP chief Amit Shah was initially an accused.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M. Shantanagoudar took on record the report submitted by senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for the Maharashtra government and asked the state to furnish, "if it is considered appropriate", copies of the materials to two petitioners - Mumbai-based journalist Banduraj Sambhaji Lone and Congress worker Tehseen Poonawala.

"It is a matter where they (the petitioners) should know everything. Give them a copy," Justice Mishra, who headed the bench till Tuesday evening, told Salve while adjourning the case for a week without fixing any specific date for the next hearing. Justice Mishra later recused himself from the case.

Salve assured the court that the copies would be furnished to the two petitioners, but urged it to ensure that the contents are not made public.

Senior advocate P. Sisodia and advocate Varinder Kumar, who appeared for the petitioners, assured the court that confidentiality would be maintained till the next date of hearing.

The Maharashtra government had said earlier that Judge Loya had died of cardiac arrest while attending a marriage ceremony in Nagpur on December 1, 2014.

The son of Judge Loya said on Sunday his family had shed their past suspicions about his father's sudden death and tearfully urged "politicians and NGOs" to stop "harassing" them over the matter.

The Loya case was cited by the four senior-most Supreme Court judges at the unprecedented news conference on January 12 where they virtually revolted against the Chief Justice of India.

The four judges accused Chief Justice Dipak Misra of handpicking judges and benches for important cases having nationwide ramification. The listing of the Loya case before a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra, who is the 10th senior-most judge in the hierarchy of 25 judges of the Supreme Court, was one of the issues raised by the four judges.

However, the Chief Justice listed the matter before Justice Arun Mishra's bench as was earlier decided by him.

As the case has gained considerable media attention, Tuesday's hearing was held in a jam-packed court hall with several advocates not connected with the matter crowding the room an hour before the hearing began. The hearing continued for less than 10 minutes.