The Bombay High Court has launched contempt proceedings against attorney Nilesh Ojha following his controversial statements about a sitting judge and a former Chief Justice during a media briefing related to the Disha Salian death investigation.

Ojha, who represents Disha Salian's father Satish Salian, made these remarks during an April 1 press conference, just one day before a scheduled court hearing on Salian's petition.

On Tuesday, a five-judge special bench headed by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and including Justices AS Chandurkar, MS Sonak, Ravindra Ghughe, and AS Gadkari examined video evidence of the press conference. During the media briefing, Ojha claimed the bench hearing the case was "disqualified" and leveled serious accusations against one of the judges, including allegations of forgery.

The court determined that Ojha should have voiced his concerns through proper judicial channels rather than making public statements. The bench observed that Ojha's comments appeared "deliberately made to scandalise the authority of court and the judge," adding that "publishing such interviews amounts to scandalising the court."

Finding Ojha's statements defamatory and potentially harmful to public confidence in the judicial system, the court declared, "The manner in which the statement has been made certainly amounts to contempt." The bench further noted that the statements were "ex facie contemptuous" and constituted "interference in administration of justice."

The court has issued a notice to Nilesh Ojha and named YouTube and a regional news channel as parties in the case, directing them to remove the video containing the controversial remarks.