CBI Registers FIR in Disha Salian Death Case After Bombay High Court Order; Fresh Probe Begins
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered an FIR in connection with the 2020 death of Disha Salian, the former manager of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, opening a fresh criminal investigation into a case that remained under scrutiny for nearly six years. The FIR was registered after the Bombay High Court directed the central agency to take over the probe.
Salian, 24, died in June 2020 after falling from the 12th floor of a building in Mumbai’s Malad area. The Mumbai Police had initially registered an accidental death report and subsequently treated the death as suicide, with its inquiry finding no evidence of foul play. A Special Investigation Team constituted by the Maharashtra government in 2023 also reportedly concluded that there was no foul play.
The latest development follows a significant intervention by the Bombay High Court on September 2. The court ordered the CBI to conduct a fresh and comprehensive investigation after expressing serious concerns about the manner and duration of the earlier police inquiry.
The court observed that the investigation had continued for around six years without registration of an FIR and said the police inquiry raised “more questions than answers”. It also referred to what it described as “glaring discrepancies” in the investigation and concluded that a proper and substantive probe was necessary.
The CBI began its investigation after recording the statement of Salian’s father, Satish Salian, at the agency’s Mumbai office. His fresh statement is understood to have formed the basis of the FIR. According to reports, Salian’s father has alleged that his daughter was sexually assaulted and murdered and that there was subsequently an attempt to conceal the alleged crime. These are allegations and remain subject to investigation.
The FIR reportedly invokes provisions relating to serious offences including murder, gang rape, criminal conspiracy and destruction or suppression of evidence. However, the precise legal sections and the identities of people being examined have been reported differently by various media outlets, and the CBI has not publicly established that any individual is guilty.
Several prominent names have surfaced in media reports concerning the FIR and the investigation, including Aaditya Thackeray, Sooraj Pancholi, Dino Morea and Rhea Chakraborty. Other reports have also referred to former police officials and political figures. Importantly, the Bombay High Court specifically made clear that registration of an FIR does not amount to a finding of guilt, and that a person should not be treated as an accused unless the investigating officer finds sufficient grounds based on the evidence collected.
The inclusion of a person’s name in an investigation therefore should not be interpreted as proof of involvement in Salian’s death. The CBI’s task now is to independently examine the circumstances surrounding her death, verify evidence and statements, and determine whether the allegations are supported by material evidence.
The case has also attracted renewed attention because Salian’s death occurred only days before Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June 2020. The temporal connection between the two deaths generated extensive public speculation, although the two cases have previously been investigated separately. The fresh CBI probe could lead to renewed examination of the circumstances and evidence surrounding Salian’s death.
The High Court has also directed the Mumbai Police to hand over relevant records and documents to the CBI. The central agency has begun recording statements as part of the investigation, marking a major shift from the earlier accidental-death inquiry to a formal criminal investigation.
For now, the most significant point is that the CBI has formally opened the case; the FIR itself does not establish that murder, gang rape or a cover-up actually occurred. Those allegations will have to be tested through evidence during the investigation. The coming stages of the probe—including forensic examination, witness statements, scrutiny of police records and reconstruction of the events of June 2020—will determine whether the allegations can be substantiated.
