Bombay High Court Orders CBI Probe Into Disha Salian Death in Malad
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the death of former celebrity manager Disha Salian, who died in June 2020 allegedly after falling from a high-rise building in Malad. A Division Bench comprising Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Bhonsale issued the directive while hearing a petition filed by her father, Satish Salian.
The Bench directed the CBI to appoint an investigating officer to handle the case. The court ordered the officer to file a chargesheet at the earliest if a cognisable offence is established. In the absence of a cognisable offence, the court directed the officer to submit closure proceedings before the competent court, granting Disha's father the liberty to file a protest petition against any such closure report.
The High Court further instructed that no individual should be treated as an accused unless the investigating officer discovers sufficient material against them. Satish Salian had approached the High Court last year seeking the registration of a First Information Report, claiming his daughter had been gang-raped and murdered. In contrast, the Mumbai police have maintained that she died after falling from the high-rise structure.
Advocate Nilesh Ojha, appearing for Mr. Salian, told the court that the Mumbai police did not share Disha's postmortem report with her father until he approached the High Court nearly five years after her death. The counsel also questioned why the police had not filed an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray and others named by the father, arguing that authorities were bound by the Supreme Court's Lalita Kumari judgment to register a case.
Appearing for Mr. Thackeray, Senior advocate Sudeep Pasbola opposed the petition, arguing that the court proceedings were politically motivated. Chief Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray, representing the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai police, maintained that there was no evidence to prosecute anyone and stated that available material indicated Ms. Salian had either died by suicide or accidentally fallen. He also questioned why the father had not raised suspicions earlier, despite having statements recorded multiple times.
During the proceedings, the judges observed that while the father's allegations could be true or false, the police should have registered an FIR and provided closure. In response to remarks regarding an inquiry spanning several years, Mr. Hiray stated that the accidental death report was initially closed in October 2020 and was reopened only after the state government noted social media allegations, with the subsequent inquiry finding no evidence of murder. A detailed copy of the court order is awaited.
