“Final Act Of Forgiveness” : Supreme Court Keeps Senior Advocate Yatin Oza’s Contempt Conviction In Abeyance Indefinitely https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/supreme-court-keeps-senior-advocate-yatin-ozas-contempt-conviction-in-abeyance-indefinitely-533686

Mathews J Nedumpara
98205 35428.
11th May 2026.

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​Sri Ojha is a good friend of mine, and I am one of his well-wishers. But I am flabbergasted by the insult he has been made to invite on himself by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal, and others.
​Ojha, in a moment of emotional outburst, wrote something he ought not have about the Gujarat High Court judges. That invited suo motu contempt of court proceedings against him. The court scrapped his designation as Senior Advocate. Ojha should have accepted that as a blessing in disguise. He had invited the wrath of the Hon’ble Judges for a public cause—the cause of the litigants and the lawyers. But he instead came to the Supreme Court for the restoration of the square gown. The judges took a firm stand. Kapil Sibal, Singhvi, and Rohatgi, who appeared for him, instead of advising Ojha to give up the square gown, went on pleading—nay, begging—saying that deprivation of the square gown is as good as civil death.
​I feel devastated. What is at stake is not merely the self-respect of Sri Ojha, but the dignity of the entire Bar. He is allowed to retain the square gown as an act of mercy. The question is: is the Bar subordinate to the Bench? Are lawyers to be at the mercy of the judges? Certainly not. But the Collegium and senior designation systems have rendered the Bar subservient to the Bench.
​The Bar is dead; what remains is a requiem.