The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register an FIR and conduct a thorough probe into the death of Disha Salian, who died in June 2020, days before actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence.
A division bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande had earlier raised concerns over the registration of only an Accidental Death Report (ADR), rather than an FIR, despite allegations by Salian’s family that she had been murdered.
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Salian was found dead on June 8, 2020. Her death came shortly before Rajput was found dead at his flat in Bandra, Mumbai, on June 14.
The court also noted that copies of the post-mortem report and the ADR had not been provided to Salian’s family even five years after her death.
Advocate Nilesh Ojha, who represents Salian’s father and petitioner Satish Salian, welcomed the order and said he was confident that the investigation would help establish the truth.
"The Court has directed the CBI to record the statement of Satish Salian, register an FIR, appoint a senior officer to conduct the investigation, and the MalvPolice Station to hand over all records to the CBI. Furthermore, action will be taken against anyone against whom evidence is found. No one will be named as an accused if there is no evidence against them. Additionally, if the CBI submits a negative report, we have the right to raise objections and file a protest petition. The court has explicitly stated this in its order. I thank the court," Ojha said.
Ojha had earlier alleged that influential people and senior police officers were involved in the case and that the investigation had failed to follow applicable guidelines.
"It was simple: influential accused were involved, and some senior police officers were also involved. As we have provided proof on record. All these things were affecting the situation. There were Supreme Court guidelines, Home Ministry guidelines, and directions from the Constitution Bench; an FIR was mandatory, yet they didn't do it," he had alleged.
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Ojha had also questioned the post-mortem findings, alleging discrepancies in the report.
"Post-mortem report prima facie looks bogus because the face is completely intact--lips intact, nose intact--she falls from the 14th floor on her face and nothing happens? Only one or two internal teeth are shown as broken. So the court said this isn't right, and they caught many of their false records," he had alleged.
The Bombay High Court’s direction for an FIR and CBI investigation marks a fresh turn in the case, with the agency now set to examine the allegations and evidence before determining whether criminal action is warranted.
