CBI Registers FIR in Disha Salian Death Case Following Bombay High Court Order

Disha Salian, former manager to actor Sushant Singh Rajput, was found dead on 8 June 2020, days before Rajput's own death was reported. Her death was initially recorded as an accidental death. Her father, Satish Salian, subsequently petitioned the Bombay High Court alleging that the earlier record did not reflect the full circumstances of her death and seeking a fresh investigation.

The Bombay High Court directed the CBI to investigate. Following that order and a complaint from Satish Salian, the CBI registered an FIR on 14 September 2026 — the formal step that opens a criminal investigation under Indian law. Multiple outlets report the FIR names several individuals, including Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, as people the investigation will examine. It is important to state this precisely: being named in an FIR as a subject for investigation is not the same as being accused or charged. Reporting on this matter, including by outlets covering the story, has noted that no one has been named as an accused at this stage. We are not repeating the FIR's full list of named individuals or its specific alleged offences here, since doing so would risk presenting unproven, untested allegations as established fact against named people before any investigation has concluded.

The FIR has become a point of dispute in Maharashtra politics. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut characterized the development as a "media trial" and alleged it was timed to the Shiv Sena election-symbol case pending before the Supreme Court, a claim about motive, not a claim about the underlying facts of Salian's death. Raut also said an earlier report on Salian's case, filed while Devendra Fadnavis was Maharashtra's home minister, had found no connection between Aaditya Thackeray and the matter; we have not independently verified the existence or contents of that earlier report, and note it here only as Raut's stated claim, not as confirmed fact.

Maharashtra minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule (BJP) said the investigation would reveal "the absolute truth" and declined to comment further given the matter is before the courts. Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Yogesh Kadam said the case was referred to CBI on the court's direction and rejected allegations of political motive. NCP (SP) leaders Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule separately criticized the FIR as, in their characterization, a revival of a matter they say was already investigated, with Pawar predicting the case would end in a "clean chit" for Aaditya Thackeray.

All of the above are political characterizations and predictions, not established facts about the investigation's substance or outcome. We report them as attributed statements because the political reaction is itself a notable, verifiable news event — not because they resolve any question about what happened to Disha Salian.

Who must act, and what specifically changes: No one outside the individuals directly named in the FIR faces any new obligation. This is a criminal investigation at its earliest procedural stage.

Reporting and defamation exposure, the relevant angle for legal and communications teams: Under Indian law, reporting that a person has been "named in an FIR" without clarifying that this is not an accusation or charge carries real defamation and reputational risk, particularly given the matter is sub judice (before the courts). Organizations covering this story, or commenting on it publicly, should maintain a clear distinction between "named for investigation," "accused," and "charged" — conflating these stages is both legally risky and factually inaccurate.

Realistic timeline: Indian criminal investigations of this kind, particularly those revisiting a years-old death, typically take months to years to reach a charge sheet or closure report, if either is filed at all. There is no set deadline in public reporting for the next procedural step.

What remains uncertain or pending: Whether any individual named in the FIR will ultimately be accused or charged; the outcome of the underlying investigation; and the accuracy of competing political claims about an earlier report on Salian's death, which we have not independently verified.

What is an FIR, and does it mean someone has been charged with a crime? An FIR (First Information Report) is the document that formally opens a police or agency investigation in India. Registering an FIR authorizes an investigation to begin, it is not a charge, an accusation, or a finding of wrongdoing. A person can be named in an FIR as someone the investigation will look into without being accused of any offence.

Has Aaditya Thackeray, or anyone else named, been accused of a crime? Based on available reporting, no. Multiple reports specifically note that no individual has been named as an accused in this matter as of the FIR's registration. Being named as a subject for investigation is an earlier and different stage.

Why is this case being investigated again, six years after Disha Salian's death? Her father petitioned the Bombay High Court, which directed the CBI to investigate. The court's own stated reasoning for ordering the probe is a matter of public record we have not independently reviewed in full; we report only that the direction was issued and that the CBI subsequently registered an FIR.

Is this connected to the Sushant Singh Rajput case? The two deaths occurred close together in June 2020 and have long been publicly linked in media coverage and public speculation, though they have been investigated as separate matters. The CBI separately filed a closure report in the Sushant Singh Rajput case concluding suicide, which has not yet been heard by the relevant court, according to reporting.

Is the political reaction to this FIR itself news, separate from the investigation? Yes. Maharashtra politicians from multiple parties have made public statements characterizing the FIR's timing and motives very differently, in the context of an unrelated, pending Supreme Court case over the Shiv Sena party symbol. That political dispute is a verifiable, attributable news event in its own right, distinct from, and not evidence about — the underlying facts of Salian's death.

Why doesn't this article name everyone reportedly listed in the FIR or detail the specific allegations? Multiple individuals are reportedly named in the FIR as subjects for investigation, alongside serious allegations that remain entirely untested. Repeating a full list of names and untested allegations risks presenting them as established fact before any investigation has concluded, which we consider inconsistent with responsible reporting on an active, sub judice matter, particularly given this case's history of intense public speculation and, in related prior cases, documented harm to individuals later cleared of wrongdoing.