These remarks were made during a press conference held about the Disha Salian death case, where Ojha represents Satish Salian, Disha’s father.
Mumbai – On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court took suo motu (on its own) action against lawyer Nilesh Ojha for making “scandalous and defamatory” statements against a sitting High Court judge.
These remarks were made during a press conference held about the Disha Salian death case, where Ojha represents Satish Salian, Disha’s father.
During a hearing on Tuesday, a five-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe, and Justices A S Chandurkar, M S Sonak, Ravindra Ghughe, and A S Gadkari strongly condemned Ojha’s comments and ordered action on several fronts.
Referring to the video of the press conference held on February 1, 2025, the bench stated:
“Considering the scandalous nature of the video.. Youtube and ABP Majha is directed to taken down the video forthwith. They are restricted from recreating, recirculating, re-uploading or in any manner publicising the video during the pendency of the contempt petition.”
The controversial video was linked to a writ petition filed by Satish Salian, father of Disha Salian, the former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances on June 8, 2020.
In the video, Advocate Ojha made serious accusations against Justice Mohite-Dere, claiming that she was “disqualified from hearing the writ petition due to her alleged family ties with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).”
He also declared that he had applied for sanction to prosecute both Justice Mohite-Dere and former Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya, and claimed to have received oral sanction to prosecute them.
Ojha didn’t stop there. He further accused the sitting judge of being involved in forgery in the Chanda Kochhar case, and alleged that this created a conflict of interest and apparent bias in the matter.
The bench found Ojha’s comments to be highly objectionable.
It observed:
“The statements appear to have been made deliberately to scandalise the authority of Court and the Judge. The act of publishing interviews amount to scandalising the court and defamatory .. Such allegations tend to lower the image of the court. The manner in which the statement has made certainly amounts to contempt. The statement is ex-facie contemptuous and is an interference in administration of justice.”
Based on this, the court ruled that Ojha’s conduct amounts to prima facie contempt under the Contempt of Court Act.
The bench also took note of Ojha’s failure to follow proper legal procedure. Instead of formally seeking the judge’s recusal during the court hearing scheduled on April 2, he chose to speak at a press conference on April 1.
The court noted:
“Ojha was under obligation to make submissions seeking to recuse the judge. However, instead of making a submission on April 2, Mr Ojha held a press conference on April 1.”
Given the serious nature of the remarks, the court passed strict directions:
- The video must be removed immediately from YouTube and ABP Majha.
- It must not be recreated, circulated, or re-uploaded during the contempt proceedings.
- Notice has been issued to Advocate Nilesh Ojha for criminal contempt.
- The court also made YouTube, ABP Majha, Bar Council of India, Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa, Bombay Bar Association, and Advocates Association of Western India respondents in the case.
To assist the court in this sensitive matter, the bench appointed Senior Advocates Darius Khambatta and Milind Sathe as Amicus Curiae, and also sought assistance from the Attorney General and Additional Solicitor General.
The matter will be heard again on April 29 at 2:30 PM.
The High Court termed these comments as “scandalous and defamatory” and found them serious enough to begin contempt proceedings.
The High Court also gave directions to YouTube and a Marathi news channel to immediately remove the video of the press conference. It also said that the video must not be uploaded again.
The court order clearly stated:
“The statements prima facie constitute criminal contempt. We direct registry to issue notice to Ojha.”
Background
Disha Salian, who earlier worked as the manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, was found dead in June 2020 under mysterious circumstances. Recently, her father Satish Salian approached the Bombay High Court asking for a fresh investigation into her death.
In his petition, he requested the court to direct the police to register an FIR against Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray and hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The plea further alleged that Disha was brutally raped and murdered, and the case was being covered up to protect influential people.
On April 2, a day after the controversial press conference, the High Court clarified that the petition was listed before the bench led by Justice Sarang Kotwal. The court then asked the High Court registry to make sure that the matter is properly placed before the concerned bench.
