HC orders CBI probe into Disha Salian death case

A division bench of Justice Sarang V Kotwal and Justice Ranjitsinha Bhonsale directed the CBI to appoint an experienced officer as an Investigating Officer (IO) in the case and register an FIR based on the statement of Disha’s father, Satish Salian

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR and conduct a fresh investigation into the death of celebrity manager Disha Salian, observing that the inquiry carried out by the police was “inadequate and raised more questions than it answered”.

HC orders CBI probe into Disha Salian death case

A division bench of Justice Sarang V Kotwal and Justice Ranjitsinha Bhonsale directed the CBI to appoint an experienced officer as an Investigating Officer (IO) in the case and register an FIR based on the statement of Disha’s father, Satish Salian.

The court also clarified that “nobody shall be treated as an accused unless, in the opinion of the IO, there are sufficient grounds to raise reasonable suspicion against them”.

The directions came on a petition filed by Satish Salian, seeking an independent probe into the death of his 28-year-old daughter. Disha, who briefly worked with actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died after falling from the 12th floor of a building in Malad on June 8, 2020. The Malwani police inquired into the incident and closed the inquiry after finding no foul play in her death and recording that her parents did not harbour any suspicion.

Salian’s lawyer further claimed that the death of his daughter and that of Sushant Singh Rajput were interlinked and though the police conducted an investigation and submitted their report to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) on February 4, 2021, its copy was neither submitted to a magistrate court, nor were given to Disha’s family members. Subsequently the investigation was reopened and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the matter in December 2023.

Public prosecutor Shishir Hiray opposed the petition on behalf of the state government, stating that the statements of Disha’s friends indicated that she had consumed alcohol and was depressed due to failure of some important work deals. There were also some issues going on between her and her friends, along with some personal differences between her and her father, he said, adding that inquiries were conducted in the incident twice and both times the police had concluded that “no foul play” was involved in Disha’s death.

The court, however, noted that spot panchnama was conducted belatedly and was concluded after more than nine hours from the incident, which raised reasonable suspicion about the steps taken by the police right at the beginning.

The bench also highlighted discrepancies in the ADR, which was registered at 3.07am on June 9, and referred to statements of Salian’s parents - while Salian reached the hospital around 4.00am. Referring to the CCTV footage, the bench pointed out that it showed police personnel present in the building at the night of the incident between about 1.00am and 2.14am, but the ADR and the subsequent reports failed to explain who those police officers were and why they had gone there.

“Even two witness statements claimed that they heard the sound of somebody falling and saw blood oozing from her head. But the police did not recover any blood-stained earth from the spot and there was no bleeding injury to the head,” the court noted.

Additionally, the postmortem report recorded six external injuries, besides a skull fracture and multiple rib fractures. The court said that if Disha had fallen from the 12th floor, it is “difficult to accept” that there was only one injury on the chin and not a single facial bone was fractured.

“This case deserves registration of FIR and substantive investigation in a cognizable offence,” the court said, adding that though “the police had sufficient opportunity to investigate the offence but they have neither registered an FIR, nor have they carried out the investigation of a cognizable offence. Instead, they conducted an investigation under the provisions of Section 174 of CrPC, which according to us, was inadequate and insufficient”, the court remarked while ordering a CBI probe into the incident.

Disha’s father Satish Salian welcomed the court’s judgement, saying, “We are very satisfied. We have struggled a lot and will have to continue struggling; otherwise, I will not be able to get justice for my daughter.”