The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the registration of an FIR in the death case of celebrity manager Disha Salian and ordered the appointment
of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer in the matter, according to breaking updates. The court also directed that the offence be registered under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The order came on a petition filed by Salian's father, Satish Salian, who had sought an FIR and a fresh investigation into the circumstances surrounding his daughter's death. He had also requested a CBI probe, alleging that the earlier investigation had failed to properly examine the possibility of foul play. Salian, 28, died on June 8, 2020, after falling from a high-rise building in Mumbai's Malad area. Her death occurred six days before the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, whose celebrity manager she had been. The proximity of the two deaths led to widespread speculation, although earlier investigations did not establish a link between them. The Bombay High Court had reserved its order after completing the hearing on August 28. The matter was heard by a division bench of Justice Bharati H Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande. During the proceedings, the court had questioned Mumbai Police over why an FIR was not registered despite Salian's family raising allegations of murder. The bench also sought clarity over the fact that only an Accidental Death Report (ADR) had been registered in the case. The court had further questioned the handling of case documents, including the ADR and post-mortem report. Salian's father had told the court that he initially believed the police investigation was genuine but later suspected that the circumstances surrounding his daughter's death had not been properly investigated. The police, meanwhile, had maintained that previous inquiries pointed towards suicide and not foul play. A Special Investigation Team constituted by the Maharashtra government in 2023 had also reached conclusions consistent with the earlier police investigation. The latest court directions mark a significant development in a case that has remained under public scrutiny for more than six years. The FIR and fresh investigation will now bring the allegations raised by Salian's family under a formal criminal probe, while the appointment of a CBI officer is expected to bring a central agency perspective to the investigation.
