Bombay High Court
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Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday asked how long the city police would conduct its inquiry into the death of former celebrity manager Disha Salian. She died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in Malad in north Mumbai, following which the city police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) case.
A bench of Justices A S Gadkari and R R Bhonsale said it has been five years since the death and all the police has to ascertain is if the death was by suicide or culpable homicide. The bench's remarks came after public prosecutor Mankhunwar Deshmukh said the inquiry into the death was still on.
"Why still inquiry? It has been five years. Someone has died. You just have to ascertain if it was a suicide or culpable homicide," the court remarked.
Deshmukh told the court the inquiry was being done minutely so as to rule out all possibilities.
Disha Salian's father, Satish Salian, had filed a petition in HC in March this year alleging that his daughter was gang raped and murdered.
Satish Salian had sought a CBI probe into his daughter's death and for a FIR to be registered against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray. Satish Salian, in the plea, alleged his daughter was found dead under mysterious circumstances in June 2020. He alleged she was raped and murdered and, subsequently, there was a politically orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons.
Deshmukh on Thursday told the bench the police had recorded the statements of the petitioner and his wife on several occasions after the incident and they had clearly said they had no doubt or suspicion on anyone. "And now after five years, the father is raising these contentions," she said.
The court also asked why the police was not handing over copies of the statements of Satish Salian to him and also other basic probe related documents, which are permissible under law.
"He is the father of the victim. Any document that is legally permissible can be handed over to him," the court said.
The bench posted the matter for further hearing on December 11 by when Deshmukh would have to clarify the police's stand on providing documents to the petitioner.
The court also directed the police to produce the post mortem report.
Earlier, Aditya Thackeray had filed an application seeking to intervene in the plea and urged the court to grant him a hearing before passing any order. Thackeray, in his application, said the petition filed by Satish Salian was false, frivolous and motivated.