The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered a CBI probe into the death of former celebrity manager Disha Salian after her father raised suspicion about the circumstances in which she passed away in 2020. Disha Salian had also worked briefly as manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who allegedly died by suicide on June 14, 2020. A CBI probe had also been ordered in that case.
A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale said the CBI shall register an FIR and record the statement of the deceased's father, Satish Salian, but no person shall be treated as an accused until and unless there is sufficient material gathered against them during the probe.
Disha 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).
The high court on Wednesday ordered the Mumbai police to hand over all Disha Salian death case papers to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) forthwith.
"In case the investigation reveals that no case is made out, then the CBI shall file the appropriate summary report before the court concerned," the bench said.
Satish Salian would be at liberty to challenge the report, the court said.
The bench said the CBI shall hand over the case to a senior officer for probe.
After conducting an inquiry, the police claimed that Disha Salian's death was a case of suicide. Her father, however, filed a petition in the HC last year alleging that his daughter was gang-raped and murdered.
Satish Salian's advocate Nilesh Ojha had raised doubts about the police probe into the case.
Salian sought a CBI probe into his daughter's death and for an FIR to be registered against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, the son of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
In his plea, he claimed that his daughter was found dead under mysterious circumstances in June 2020. He alleged that she was raped and murdered, and subsequently there was a politically orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons.
Disha Salian had also briefly worked as a manager for late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who was found dead in his house in June 2020.
A CBI probe was ordered in the case too. The agency last year filed a closure report in the case claiming that the actor had died by suicide. The concerned court is yet to decide on the same.
Earlier, Aditya Thackeray had also filed an application in the HC seeking to intervene in the plea filed by Satish Salian and urged the court to grant him a hearing before passing any order.
Thackeray, in his application, said the petition filed by Satish Salian was false, frivolous and motivated.
