"14th Floor Fall Only Broke Teeth?" Court In Sushant Singh Rajput's Ex-Manager's Death Case

The Bombay High Court has pulled up the Maharashtra government and the Mumbai police for the second straight day over the probe in the death case of Disha Salian - the former manager of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Disha Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling from the 14th floor of a residential building in Mumbai's Malad area.

Pointing out the discrepancies in the investigation, the court questioned how a fall from the 14th floor could only break teeth. It also noted the missing bloodstains around her body and the patterns of injury. "How did a fall from such a height not fracture the skull and only break the teeth?" the court questioned.

To this, Public Prosecutor Shishir Hire argued that severe facial, skull, and rib fractures were recorded and the bleeding depended on the point of impact.

Addressing the lack of bloodstains, Hire argued that monsoon rains might have washed the blood away. 

The court immediately countered Hire, noting that it rained at 9:40 am - nearly six hours after the incident occurred.

The court then pointed out glaring inconsistencies regarding Salian's clothes, saying that while the panchnama and post-mortem report stated that Salian's body had no clothes, the photographs at the hospital and morgue showed the victim wearing clothes.

"There is room for reasonable doubt in all these aspects. However, we are not drawing any conclusion at this stage," the court said.

Disha Salian's father's mention

The Mumbai police had registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) over Disha Salian's death. While the police, after conducting an inquiry, claimed that she died by suicide, her father Satish Salian filed a petition in the High Court last year, alleging his daughter was gang raped and murdered.

The Public Prosecutor told the court that Salian's father had made a statement on January 15, 2024, saying his daughter died by suicide due to financial depression and that the parents hold no complaints against anyone. His statement had also clarified that he only knows Aaditya Thackeray as a political figure because the police mentioned his name, and there is no other connection to him in this case.

Hire also cited the statement of Rohan Rai - who lived with Salian during the lockdown, noting that he was the first person to be interrogated and the closest to her well-being. Rai's statement had mentioned that Disha had a dispute with her father, and the two had not spoken for three months before the incident.

Rai also entirely ruled out the possibility of murder, stating she died by suicide under immense stress.

Hire told the court that political capital should not be made out of this case after six years just because people have differences of opinion.

Citing medical reports and the CrPC 164 statement of Doctor Jadhav, who conducted Salian's post-mortem, Hire said there is zero evidence of any sexual assault. He also argued that despite publishing advertisements inviting complaints or objections regarding the case, no one came forward.

The court then stopped Hire's detailed defence, saying, "There is no need to go this deep. There is no scope for the point you are making here".

The court raised critical questions regarding the police inquiry conducted under Section 174 of the CrPC (about unnatural deaths).

Advocate Sudeep Pasbola, representing Aaditya Thackeray, argued that the petitioner bypassed legal remedies by approaching the High Court directly without first filing a police complaint.