MUMBAI — The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct an investigation into the 2020 death of celebrity talent manager Disha Salian, after her father petitioned the court expressing strong suspicions regarding the circumstances surrounding her demise. Salian, who previously managed the affairs of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died on June 8, 2020, following a fall from the 14th floor of a high-rise residential building in Mumbai’s Malad suburb.
A division bench comprising Justice Sarang Kotwal and Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale ordered the Mumbai Police to immediately hand over all case papers, forensic records, and investigation dairies to the central probe agency. The high court directed the CBI to register a formal First Information Report (FIR) and record the statement of the deceased’s father, Satish Salian. However, the judges clarified that no individual should be treated as an accused unless independent, admissible evidence surfaces during the federal investigation.
The legal intervention stems from a petition filed by Satish Salian through legal counsel Nilesh Ojha, challenging the initial findings of the local police. While Mumbai Police initially treated the incident as an accidental death and concluded following inquiries that it was a case of suicide, Salian’s family alleged foul play, asserting she had been assaulted and murdered. The bench noted that if the CBI’s probe concludes without finding evidence of foul play, the agency may submit an appropriate summary closure report, with liberty granted to the father to challenge the findings if dissatisfied.
