Disha Salian’s body was also found without any clothes, and her father’s complaint is still not registered as an FIR. However, in Disha’s case, there are several other glaring illegalities, inconsistencies and serious investigative lapses.
The Bombay High Court has also raised serious questions regarding the suicide theory put forward by the police in the Disha Salian case. During the hearing, the Court drew the Public Prosecutor’s attention to Disha’s photograph and observed that there was no visible injury on her face and, prima facie, it did not appear to be a case of death caused by a fall from the 12th floor. The Court also questioned why no FIR was registered despite the complaint given by Disha’s father and who had prevented the police from registering it.
The Petitioner further pointed out that while the post-mortem report recorded that Disha’s front teeth had fallen out, the photograph taken at the time of her last rites showed her front teeth intact and no apparent serious injury on her face. These glaring inconsistencies raise serious questions regarding the police suicide theory and the credibility of the investigation conducted so far.
In a significant judgment bearing similarities to the issues being raised in the Disha Salian death case, the High Court in Devanand Oraon v. State of Jharkhand, 2021 SCC OnLine Jhar 594, transferred the investigation of a suspicious death to the CBI after noticing several serious and unexplained circumstances and investigative lapses.
The High Court took into consideration that the deceased was found in a naked condition, injuries were found on the body, viscera had not been preserved, and yet the police had proceeded with the suicide theory from the very first day. The Court also noticed that statements concerning influential persons had been recorded without registration of an FIR, Investigating Officers were frequently changed, and serious allegations had been made concerning “high ups of the State.”
Considering these circumstances cumulatively, the High Court declined to leave the matter with the existing investigating machinery. Rejecting the objections to transfer, the Court held that it was a “fit case in fact it is rarest of rare case to hand over the investigation to the CBI” and directed the CBI to take over the investigation immediately.
Disha Salian’s body was also found without any clothes, and despite the grave and specific allegations raised by her father, his complaint is still not registered as an FIR. However, in Disha’s case, the issues raised before the Court go much further and involve several other glaring illegalities, serious inconsistencies, investigative and forensic lapses, and grave questions concerning the collection, preservation and handling of crucial evidence.
The judgment, therefore, assumes particular significance in the context of the Disha Salian case, where serious questions have been raised before the Court concerning the suicide theory, non-registration of an FIR despite the father’s complaint, serious investigative and forensic lapses, failure to collect and preserve crucial physical, biological and digital evidence, grave inconsistencies in the official records, and the role of politically influential accused, including Aditya Thackeray and others.
Petitioner Satish Salian has alleged that Disha Salian was gang-raped and murdered and has named Aditya Thackeray as the principal accused in the case. He has further alleged that, at the relevant time, Aditya Thackeray was a Minister and his father was the Chief Minister of the State, and that political influence was therefore used to interfere with the police investigation and to portray the death as a case of suicide, thereby covering up the actual crime and shielding the accused.
According to Satish Salian, these are not isolated or ordinary procedural irregularities, but form a series of grave circumstances and alleged investigative failures requiring a thorough, independent and Court-monitored investigation to uncover the complete truth. Such an investigation, he contends, must determine not merely the actual circumstances surrounding Disha Salian’s death, but also whether crucial evidence was suppressed, destroyed or manipulated; whether material evidence was deliberately ignored; who influenced or obstructed the investigation; who was responsible for the alleged cover-up; how many other accused persons were allegedly involved along with Aditya Thackeray; and what role, if any, was played by other influential persons.
It is on this basis that Satish Salian has sought a Court-monitored independent investigation, so that the complete truth may be brought to light, the role of every person allegedly involved in the crime, manipulation of evidence and alleged cover-up may be investigated, and it may be ensured that neither accused Aditya Thackeray nor any other person escapes the process of law merely on account of political influence, position or power.
