Bombay High Court orders takedown of video of lawyer making allegations against sitting judges

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the immediate takedown of a video allegedly defaming and scandalising sitting judges, including Justice Revati Mohite-Dere. .The video which was broadcast on YouTube and Marathi television news channel ABP Majha, featured advocate Nilesh Ojha making serious allegations against judges, prompting the court to initiate suo motu contempt proceedings."Considering the scandalous nature of the video.. Youtube and ABP Majha is directed to taken down the video fortwith. They are restricted from recreating, recirculating, re-uploading or in any manner publicising the video during the pendency of the contempt petition", a full bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe, Justice AS Chandurkar, Justices MS Sonak, Ravindra Ghughe and AS Gadkari ruled. .The video in question was recorded during a press conference on February 1, 2025 in connection with a writ petition filed on behalf of Satish Saliyan, the father of Disha Saliyan.Disha is the former manager of the deceased actor actor Sushant Singh Rajput. She was found dead in mysterious circumstances on June 8, 2020In the video, Ojha accused Justice Mohite-Dere of being disqualified from hearing the writ petition due to her alleged family ties with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) . He also stated that he had applied for sanction to prosecute the judge and former Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and had orally received sanctions to prosecute them both. .Ojha’s allegations did not stop there; he also accused the sitting judge of committing forgery in the Chanda Kochhar case, further alleging that this created a conflict of interest and apparent bias in the matter.The Court today found these statements highly problematic."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," the Bench said. The bench ruled that Ojha’s comments amounted to prima facie contempt under the Contempt of Court Act..The Court also criticized Ojha for bypassing appropriate legal channels since he chose to hold a press conference instead of raising the alleged conflict of interest before the concerned judge. "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," the court noted in its order.In light of the scandalous nature of the video, the Court ordered the immediate removal of the video and prohibited its recreation, re-circulation or re-uploading during the contempt proceedings. The Court also issued notice to advocate Ojha for criminal contempt and directed that the Bar Council of India, Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa, the Bombay Bar Association, Advocates Association of Western India, YouTube and ABP Majha be made respondents in the case. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on April 29 at 2:30 PM.The bench also requested the assistance of Senior Advocates Darius Khambatta and Milind Sathe as Amicus Curiae, as well as the assistance of Attorney General and Additional Solicitor General in the proceedings.