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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

HC orders CBI to probe Disha Salian’s death

Her father has named Aaditya Thackeray as an accused in the case Mumbai Police’s clean chit to accused likely to be investigated Disha’s father Satish Salian outside Bombay High Court in Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic: Bhushan Koyande Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the death of Bollywood celeb manager Disha Salian in June 2020 – a week before her client and actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s passing – here on Wednesday. A division bench...

HC orders CBI to probe Disha Salian’s death

Her father has named Aaditya Thackeray as an accused in the case Mumbai Police’s clean chit to accused likely to be investigated Disha’s father Satish Salian outside Bombay High Court in Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic: Bhushan Koyande Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the death of Bollywood celeb manager Disha Salian in June 2020 – a week before her client and actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s passing – here on Wednesday. A division bench comprising Justice S. V. Kotwal and Justice R. R. Bhonsale asked the CBI to name a suitable experienced officer and to register a FIR based on a complaint filed by her father Satish Salian. The court also suggested the agency to keep an open mind on the probe into the high profile and sensitive case while making it clear that the registering a FIR does not imply finding a guilt against anyone. “Nobody shall be treated as an accused unless, in the opinion of the investigating officer, there are sufficient grounds to raise reasonable suspicion against him, depending on the material collected during the investigation,” said Justice Kotwal and Justice Bhonsale’s order. Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 14th floor of a residential building in Malad after which the Mumbai Police filed an Accidental Death Report in 2021, concluding it was a suicide. A week later on June 14, 2020, Rajput was found hanging in the bedroom of his Bandra rented flat sparking off a major political row. Following intense speculation the police reopened Salian’s case in 2022. Father’s Plea Satish Salian moved the high court in 2024 alleging that he was misled and pressured by the police and politicians to accept the ‘suicide’ conclusion. Alleging gang-rape and murder, he sought an independent CBI probe, filing of FIR against several persons, including Shiv Sena (UBT) Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray, and claimed that critical forensic and other evidence were not disclosed to Disha’s family. Accepting his plea, the high court ordered the Mumbai Police to hand over all necessary case papers, physical articles and other evidence to the CBI investigating officer. Many Doubts The high court noted how the two-stage police probe went on for almost six years and apparently raised many doubts, hence an investigation by the CBI was necessary. The central agency was directed to delve into all aspects surrounding Disha’s death. “The CBI shall interact with Salian and his family with sensitivity as they will have to remember the tragic incident in detail. At the same time care should be taken that no innocent person is harassed and the offenders, if any, are made to face the trial,” said the order. Earlier, the court had questioned the legal validity of the prolonged inquiry without registering an FIR and observed that when subsequent allegations came up, an offence should have been registered, probed and concluded with legal sanctity. Chief Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray had defended the procedure, submitting that witness statements and forensic reports ruled out foul play or sexual assault, the initial ADR inquiry was closed within three months, but reopened in 2023 following social media claims. Senior Advocate Sudeep Pasbola appeared for Aaditya Thackeray and intervened in the matter, while advocates Nilesh Ojha and Abhishek Mishra represented Salian. Pasbola contended that (Salian’s) petition arose out of political rivalry against Thackeray and that Salian was “being used as a tool”, and riding on a motivated complaint based on irresponsible media reports. Plea to President In March 2022, Satish Salian and his wife Vasanti had sent five-page letters to then President Ramnath Kovind seeking to restrain a BJP union minister (Narayan Rae) and his son (Nitesh N. Rane), for allegedly ‘maligning’ their daughter Disha’s image with ‘fake narratives’ that had made their lives miserable. The aged couple had also warned that if the concerned authorities failed to take suitable steps, they would be left with no alternative “but to end our lives”. Two years later he moved the high court for a CBI probe which was allowed today.

Clever seat selection helped BJP to secure historic win

The party won 65 seats against Congress, 37 against NCP (SP) and 29 against Shiv Sena (UBT)

Clever seat selection

Mumbai: The BJP’s strategic seat sharing with the allies has proved beneficial for the party. An analysis of the Assembly election results show that the BJP has scored over its main rival, the Congress, in a big way because of the direct fights.


The analysis shows that BJP defeated all three constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) – in the direct fights. This is attributed as one of the reasons for the BJP’s historic poll success.


The BJP contested 147 out of 288 seats. In 76 constituencies, it faced Congress. BJP secured victory in 65 seats and lost only 11 seats, making it a whopping 86 per cent of the total direct fights. This was followed by an even stronger performance against NCP (SP). Of the total 39 fights with Sharad Pawar’s party, BJP captured 37 seats making it 95 per cent of the total fights with NCP (SP). BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) were head-to-head in 32 constituencies, of which BJP emerged victorious in 29 seats, making this 91 per cent of the total direct contests.


According to a BJP strategist the party had bargained hard with its allies, Shiv Sena and NCP to get the desired constituencies in the seat sharing formula. “We had studied to potential candidates of the MVA. That helped us in choosing the seats where we can register comfortable victories,” the strategist said.


BJP spokesperson Niranjan Shetty attributed the success to all the party workers who worked hard to boost development, infrastructure in the state. He gave credit to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his contribution to the party’s success.


Shetty pointed out that in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had stalled all the “novel” and “legendary” projects that Fadnavis had started when he had taken over as CM, making it very easy for the people of Maharashtra to strike a comparison between both the leaders and the potential they had for serving the people. “Devendra Fadnavis gave up his post very easily for the larger good. There are many such examples like Venkaiah Naidu who was BJP National President and later worked as the Vice President of India because that was the need of the hour. We seldom care about our posts,” Shetty told The Perfect Voice.


Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe refused to call the election results as the people’s mandate. “This is not at all a Janata mandate. Despite Maharashtra struggling with so many basic social issues, how can BJP acquire such a huge mandate is the question. If a student copies and fails with just passing marks, it can go unnoticed, but if a student copies and bags the number one position, something is fishy. Why is the BJP scared of ballot papers?” he said.

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