Bombay High Court orders CBI probe and FIR filing in Disha Salian death case

In a Wednesday judgment, the Bombay High Court directed that a senior officer from the Central Bureau of Investigation take charge of probing the June 8 2020 death of 28-year-old celebrity manager Disha Salian at a Malad residence, and ordered an FIR to be lodged without naming any accused until sufficient material is presented. The petition, filed by her father Satish Salian, claimed the circumstances were suspicious and sought a murder investigation, even naming Aditya Thackeray as a possible suspect.

The court’s bench, comprising Justices SV Kotwal and RR Bhonsale, questioned why the state continued a section-174 inquiry, which is intended only to determine cause of death, after it had been closed and later reopened in 2023. State prosecutor Shishir Hirey reiterated that Salian’s death was a suicide resulting from a fall from the 12th floor, citing skull fracture evidence and forensic reports that ruled out foul play or sexual assault.

Senior counsel Sudeep Pasbola, representing the Thackeray family, argued the allegations were politically motivated and that the proper remedy lay with a magistrate’s private complaint. The court emphasized its focus on legal propriety and providing closure for the family, while noting the broader context of the earlier high-profile investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.