The Bombay high court today (September 2) ordered CBI investigation in the death of celebrity manager Disha Salian, who was looking after the business affairs of actor Sushant Singh Rajput before she died. Disha died in alleged mysterious circumstances by falling from the 14th floor of a high-rise in suburban Malad in Bombay in June 2020.
A division bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal and Justice Ranjitsinh Bhonsale, while dealing with a petition filed by her father, Satish Salian, ordered the CBI to appoint a senior and an experienced officer to carry out the investigation in the case.
It, however. cautioned that no one should be treated as an accused unless the Investigating Officer found sufficient material against any person.
The judges further ordered the IO to file the chargesheet in the case as early as possible, provided, a cognisable offence was made out. If no cognisable offence was made out, the judges have ordered the IO to file appropriate closure proceedings before the competent court. It has granted Disha’s father the liberty to file a protest petition.
Notably, Satish had last year petitioned the high court seeking registration of First Information Report (FIR) over the sudden death of his daughter, who he claimed was subjected to gang rape and then murdered.
The Bombay police has, however, maintained that Disha died after falling from the high-rise.
A detailed copy of the order is yet to be made available.
Advocate Nilesh Ojha, appearing for Satish Salian, argued that the Bombay police did not share even the post mortem report of Disha with her father and the same was shared only much later. He also raised questions over why the police did not file any FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray and others, whose names the father gave.
On the other hand, the Maharashtra government through the Bombay police maintained that there was no evidence it came across, to prosecute anyone in Disha’s death case. Chief public prosecutor Shishir Hiray argued that the same indicated that Disha committed suicide or accidentally fell from the said building.
