The Bombay High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe into the 2020 death of Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager Disha Salian. The court also ordered investigators to record her father Satish Salian's statement. For those unversed, Satish had sought a fresh investigation, alleging lapses in Mumbai Police's probe and foul play.
Disha passed away in Mumbai on June 8, 2020.
Here is everything to know about the case:
Who was Disha Salian?
Disha Salian was a celebrity manager who worked with several personalities, including Sushant Singh Rajput. Her death became a major topic of discussion in the entertainment industry after she died in Mumbai in June 2020.
She was engaged to actor Rohan Rai.
What happened in June 2020?
Salian died on June 8, 2020, after allegedly falling from a high-rise building in Mumbai's Malad area. At the time, police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR), and the circumstances surrounding the fall later became the subject of questions and speculation.
Disha's official cause of death was recorded as fatal head injuries resulting from a fall from the building. It was also alleged that she died by suicide.
Why is Sushant Singh Rajput's name linked to the case?
Salian's death occurred only six days before Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. The timing led to discussion about whether the two deaths were connected. Mumbai Police, however, had earlier said they found no link between the cases.
What did Satish Salian allege?
Disha Salian's father approached the Bombay High Court seeking an FIR and a CBI investigation. His petition raised allegations about the circumstances of his daughter's death and accused authorities of failing to properly investigate the concerns raised by the family. These allegations remain subject to investigation.
Satish Salian's 2025 petition
He filed a petition before the High Court last year, alleging that his daughter had been gang-raped and murdered.
During an earlier hearing, a Division Bench comprising Justice Bharti Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande raised concerns over the police registering only an ADR, rather than an FIR, despite the family's allegations of murder.
The court had also observed that copies of the post-mortem report and the ADR had not been provided to Disha's family even after five years of her death.
How is Aaditya Thackeray linked to the case?
Earlier, Satish had claimed that his daughter "was brutally raped, murdered and subjected to a politically orchestrated cover-up". He had urged for a transfer of probe from a Special Investigation Team (SIT) (formed by the city police in 2023) to the CBI and registration of an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray.
Aaditya Thackeray's reaction
In March 2025, Aaditya had said, "A lot of people have tried to defame me for the last five years. If the matter is in court, then we will speak in court."
What the closure report stated
In March 2025, a new piece of information had emerged which revealed that Disha died by suicide due to financial betrayal by her father Satish.
According to reports, the closure report of CBI also stated that in addition to failed projects and misunderstandings with friends, Disha's father had misused her hard-earned money by spending it on a female employee, with whom he had an affair, at his spice manufacturing unit in Thane.
