Bombay High Court initiates contempt action against Satish Salian's lawyer for remarks on sitting judge

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday initiated suo motu contempt proceedings against lawyer Nilesh Ojha for his "scandalous and defamatory" remarks against a sitting HC judge during a press briefing on Disha Salian death case.

Ojha represents Satish Salian, who has moved the HC seeking a probe into the death of his daughter Disha Salian.

A larger bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe, Justices A S Chandurkar, M S Sonak, Ravindra Ghuge and A S Gadkari said the remarks made by Ojha in the press conference held on April 1 against the sitting high court judge and a former Chief Justice of the Bombay HC were "scandalous and defamatory".

"The statements prima facie constitute criminal contempt. We direct registry to issue notice to Ojha," the court said posting the matter for further hearing on April 29.

The court also directed YouTube and a Marathi news channel to forthwith remove the video of the press conference and also restrained them from uploading it in future.

Disha Salian, former manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, was found dead in June 2020.

Last month, Satish Salian moved the HC seeking a fresh probe into the mysterious circumstances under which his daughter was found dead.

The petition urged the HC to order the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, and transfer of the probe to the CBI, he said.

The plea alleged that Disha Salian was brutally raped and murdered, and subsequently there was a politically-orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons.

In a press conference held on April 1, Salian's lawyer Nilesh Ojha levelled allegations of corruption against the sitting judge of HC before whom the plea was listed for hearing on April 2.

The high court on April 2 said the plea pertains to the assignment of the bench headed by Justice Sarang Kotwal and ordered the HC's registry to take steps to place the matter before that bench.