No Foul Play in Disha Salian Death: Bombay HC Give Aditya Thackeray a Clean Chit?

July 3, 2025: The Mumbai Police have submitted an affidavit before the Bombay High Court stating that former celebrity manager Disha Salian died by suicide and that no foul play was involved. The affidavit, filed last month by Malvani police station’s senior inspector Shailendra Nagarkar, stated that Salian jumped off the window of a 14th-floor flat in Malad “out of her own volition,” and her postmortem report revealed no signs of sexual or physical assault.

The affidavit cited that Salian was under “tremendous mental stress” due to personal disputes with her family and professional setbacks in her business ventures. It also noted that she was intoxicated at the time of the incident, which occurred on June 8, 2020. Her fiancé, who was present at the time, has reportedly ruled out any suspicion of foul play.

The police had initially registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) following her demise. The affidavit claims that both the primary investigation and a subsequent probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) found no evidence contradicting the conclusion of suicide.

However, Salian’s father, Satish Salian, continues to challenge the official findings. He filed a petition earlier this year seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe and demanded an FIR against Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aditya Thackeray. In his plea, Satish alleged that his daughter was raped and murdered and accused powerful individuals of orchestrating a cover-up to suppress the truth.

The petition came up for hearing before a bench led by Justice A.S. Gadkari on Wednesday and is scheduled for further hearing on July 16.

In his recent submission, Satish Salian argued that police failed to register an FIR despite having information that indicated a cognizable offence. He also accused authorities of ignoring a court order by obtaining an affidavit from the Maharashtra government’s chief secretary instead of the police.

Meanwhile, Aditya Thackeray has filed an application seeking to intervene in the case, claiming that the petition against him is “false, frivolous, and motivated.” He has requested the court to hear him before issuing any ruling on the matter.

The case continues to stir public interest due to its political undertones and the circumstances surrounding the death, with both sides awaiting the court’s next move later this month.