Disha Salian case: Why no FIR if father raised suspicion, asks Bombay High Court

“What comes to our mind is only this: that if somebody raises a suspicion that this is not suicide, but this is murder, what stopped you from registering an FIR and investigating?” Justice Dangre asked. The judges added that if the petitioner is making a complaint, the court will have to test why the documents related to the Accidental Death (AD) report, etc., were not given to the petitioner.

“Even if AD has been conducted and your inference is otherwise of suicide, then what prohibits you from giving these documents? These are innocuous documents,” the judge asked the prosecution.

In February 2022, Disha’s father had alleged that politicians were maligning his daughter’s name by raising questions over the circumstances surrounding her death. His writ plea, filed in 2025, stated that he initially believed that the police investigation into his daughter’s death was genuine but later found it was a cover-up, prompting opposition from the police.

The police had also stated that the findings of the 2023 Special Investigation Team (SIT) were also “coherent with the findings of an earlier investigation officer”.

During the hearing on Monday, Disha Salian’s lawyer claimed that a copy of the post-mortem report was given to the petitioner after five years. The petitioner also claimed that the police report on completion of the investigation under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) should have been submitted before the local magistrate; however, the petitioner said, it was submitted before a senior police officer.

Chief Public Prosecutor (CPP) Shishir Hiray, for the Police, submitted that the state government had ordered a re-inquiry and both times, the report revealed “an unnatural death, but it was due to suicide.”

The court asked the petitioner’s lawyer to prepare a list of dates and events to examine his contentions and the prosecution’s response to the same and posted the further hearing later this month.