CBI registers FIR in Disha Salian death case after High Court intervention

The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a First Information Report to investigate the death of celebrity manager Disha Salian, taking over the case from the Mumbai Police following a sharp rebuke from the Bombay High Court.

On 2 September, a High Court bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale ordered the federal agency to step in. The judges criticised the Mumbai Police for treating the 2020 death merely as an accidental occurrence for six years without ever registering a formal criminal case. The court noted that this prolonged delay "raises more questions than answers" and pointed to "glaring discrepancies" in the local police inquiry, including the timing of the spot panchnama and the nature of Salian's injuries.

The night of the fall

Salian, who was 28, died on 8 June 2020 after falling from the 12th floor of a residential building in Mumbai's Malad suburb. At the time, the Mumbai Police recorded an Accidental Death Report and eventually concluded she had taken her own life.

But her death was quickly overshadowed by another tragedy. Six days later, on 14 June, Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput—whom Salian had briefly managed—was found dead in his apartment.

The proximity of the two deaths sparked intense speculation and conspiracy theories. Although a subsequent CBI investigation into Rajput's death concluded he died by suicide, his family and Salian's have long questioned the official narratives.

Family demands answers

Salian's father, Satish Salian, petitioned the High Court, alleging that his daughter had been raped and murdered. During earlier hearings, a separate bench of Justices Bharti Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande also questioned why only an accidental death report had been filed, noting that the family had not even been given copies of the post-mortem report five years after her death.

Following the court's recent order, Satish Salian told reporters from the ANI news agency that he had shared the names of several people he wants investigators to question.

"I stated the facts exactly as they were; I told them everything that happened to my daughter," he said. "I listed all the names: Aditya, Sooraj Pancholi, Dino Morea, and the bodyguards."

He added that investigators had assured him they would act on the information. "The truth cannot be defeated," he said.

What happens next

The High Court has ordered the Mumbai Police to hand over all case files to the federal agency and instructed the CBI to assign a senior, experienced officer to lead the fresh inquiry.

However, the court made it clear that registering the FIR does not mean anyone is immediately being treated as a suspect. Under the court's direction, no one will be named as an accused unless investigators find sufficient grounds and material evidence to raise a reasonable suspicion during the course of their work.