Articles

Bombay HC Orders CBI Probe into Disha Salian's Death

The Bombay High Court has passed a significant order in the death case of Disha Salian, Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager. The court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR and investigate the matter.


Disha Salian was found dead on June 8, 2020. Her death came days before actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence in Mumbai.

Details of the Disha Salian hearing
The latest development came while hearing a petition filed by Disha's father, Satish Salian. His lawyer, Advocate Nilesh Ojha, said the court has also directed the Malvani Police Station to hand over all relevant records to the CBI.

Ojha said the CBI will record Satish Salian's statement and a senior officer will be appointed to lead the investigation. "The Court has directed the CBI to record the statement of Satish Salian, register an FIR, appoint a senior officer to conduct the investigation, and the Malvani Police Station to hand over all records to the CBI. Furthermore, action will be taken against anyone against whom evidence is found. No one will be named as an accused if there is no evidence against them. Additionally, if the CBI submits a negative report, we have the right to raise objections and file a protest petition. The court has explicitly stated this in its order. I thank the court."

What Disha Salian's lawyer alleged
Ojha had earlier raised allegations about the handling of the case. He claimed that influential people and some senior police officers were involved. These are allegations made by the petitioner's side and will now be subject to investigation.

"It was simple: influential accused were involved, and some senior police officers were also involved. As we have provided proof on record. All these things were affecting the situation. There were Supreme Court guidelines, Home Ministry guidelines, and directions from the Constitution Bench; an FIR was mandatory, yet they didn't do it."

He had also questioned the post-mortem report and alleged discrepancies in it. "Post-mortem report prima facie looks bogus because the face is completely intact--lips intact, nose intact--she falls from the 14th floor on her face and nothing happens? Only one or two internal teeth are shown as broken. So the court said this isn't right, and they caught many of their false records."

Court had earlier raised questions over FIR
The issue had also come up during an earlier hearing before a Division Bench comprising Justice Bharti Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande. The bench had raised concerns over the registration of only an Accidental Death Report (ADR), instead of an FIR, despite the family's allegations of murder.

The court also noted that Disha's family had not been provided copies of the post-mortem report and the ADR even after five years of her death.

With the latest order, the CBI will now examine the matter. The agency's investigation will determine the facts and whether there is evidence to support any of the allegations raised in the case.

(With inputs from ANI)