Disha Salian case: Bombay High Court directs registry to place father's plea for probe before appropriate bench

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed its registry department to place before an appropriate bench the petition filed by Satish Salian, father of former celebrity manager Disha Salian, seeking a CBI probe into his daughter's death and FIR against MLA Aaditya Thackeray.

The plea came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale.

Salian's advocates pointed out that the petition pertains to crime against women and the assignment pertains to the division bench headed by Justice Sarang Kotwal.

The court then directed the HC's registry department to take steps to place the petition before that bench.

Salian had last month filed a petition in HC seeking a fresh probe into the mysterious circumstances under which she was found dead in June 2020.

The petition urged the HC to order the registration of a First Information Report against Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, and transfer of the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), he said.

The plea alleged that Disha Salian was brutally raped and murdered, and subsequently there was a politically-orchestrated cover-up to protect certain influential persons.

The petitioner initially believed that the probe conducted by the city police was genuine, but has now learnt that it was a cover-up, it said.

"The Mumbai police hastily closed the death as a case of suicide or accidental death without taking into account forensic evidence, circumstantial proof and eyewitness testimonies," the plea said.

Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in suburban Malad. The city police had then registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) case.

Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020. While the city police initially said it was a case of suicide, the case was handed over to the CBI later.

Disha Salian was Rajput's former manager.

The CBI last month submitted a closure report in the case.