Satish Salian's Lawyer Faces Contempt Action For Remarks On High Court Judge

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday initiated suo motu (on its own) 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.

The lawyer's statements made at a press conference earlier this month are "ex-facie contemptuous," the high court said, and ordered YouTube and a Marathi news channel to forthwith remove the video of the press conference.

Nilesh Ojha represents Satish Salian, who has moved the HC seeking a probe into the death of his daughter Disha Salian in 2020.

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

"The statements prima facie constitute criminal contempt. We direct registry to issue notice to Mr 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.

"The statements in the press conference appear to have been made deliberately to scandalise the authority of this court and also a sitting judge. They are scandalous and defamatory allegations," the bench noted in its order.

The statements also tend to lower the dignity of this court. The manner in which the statements have been made certainly amounts to causing obstruction in the administration of justice, the HC said.

"The statements are ex-facie contemptuous," the court said.

Disha Salian, former manager of Bollywood 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 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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 the press conference held on April 1, Salian's lawyer Nilesh Ojha levelled allegations of corruption against the sitting HC judge 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.

The larger bench on Tuesday said if Mr Ojha or his client had any reservations over the sitting judge, then he could have raised the same before that judge when the plea was to be heard on April 2.

However, instead of making the submission before the bench, Mr Ojha held a press conference, the court said.

Considering the "scandalous" remarks, the HC ordered YouTube and a Marathi news channel to remove the videos forthwith and asked the government to ensure this was done immediately.

Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in Mumbai's Malad area. The city police then registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR).

Six days later, actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found hanging from the ceiling of his apartment in Bandra area here on June 14, 2020. While the city police initially said it was a case of suicide, the case was later handed over to the CBI.

The CBI last month submitted a closure report in the case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)