Aaditya Thackeray rejects Rs 500-crore defamation notice from Satish Salian, refuses apology

Shiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray has refused to apologise to Satish Salian father of late celebrity manager Disha Salian in response to a Rs 500crore defamation notice issued to him and has rejected the allegations as frivolousThe response was sent through Thackerayrsquos advocate Anshuman Sinha It stated that Thackerayrsquos social media posts did not mention Satish Salian and therefore did not make any defamatory statement against himThe legal exchange comes amid a renewed investigation into Disha Salianrsquos death after the Bombay High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI to register an FIR and investigate the circumstances surrounding her death The High Court had also made it clear that no person should be treated as an accused unless the investigation produces sufficient material to raise reasonable suspicion against themThackeray rejects allegations in defamation noticeSatish Salian had issued the defamation notice to Thackeray on September 17 alleging that the Shiv Sena UBT MLA had defamed him in two posts published in English and Marathi on X a day earlierIn his reply Thackeray said the posts were directed at what he described as a sustained campaign by political actors vested interests and sections of the media linking his name to Disha Salianrsquos death without verified evidence from earlier investigationsMy clients posts addressed the sustained campaign by political actors vested interests and sections of the media that have repeatedly linked his name with this tragic case without placing verified evidence in the two SIT investigations Aadityas reply said adding that he had made no defamatory statement about Satish SalianThe reply also said the issue raised by Thackeray was the use of Disha Salianrsquos death in political and public campaigns rather than any attempt to target her fatherThe real concern is the political use being made of this tragedy by persons seeking to advance their own agenda it saidAaditya stands by statement that he did not know DishaThackeray has also maintained his earlier statement that he had never met or known Disha SalianIn a separate statement last week Thackeray had denied knowing or meeting Disha and described the allegations linking him to her death as an ldquoevidencefreerdquo attempt at character assassination The CBI registered an FIR on September 14 following the High Courtrsquos order with several names appearing in connection with the investigation The High Court however specifically directed that no individual should be treated as an accused unless sufficient material emerges during the probeIn his response to the defamation notice Thackeray also pointed to what he described as inconsistencies between statements made by Satish Salian immediately after his daughterrsquos death and statements made at later stagesLet the official reinvestigation proceed it said adding that the CBI should conduct its probe independentlyNo apology or compensation offeredThackerayrsquos legal response made it clear that he did not intend to apologise or pay compensation in response to the Rs 500crore noticeThe dispute comes against the backdrop of the renewed investigation into Disha Salianrsquos death The Bombay High Court while ordering the CBI probe directed the agency to investigate all aspects surrounding the circumstances in which she died It also said that if the investigation finds that no offence was committed an appropriate report should be filed before the competent courtThe court had raised several questions about aspects of the earlier investigation including the timing of the spot panchnama the registration of the accidental death report and the delayed seizure of Disharsquos phone and laptop However it cautioned that those observations were made while deciding whether a fresh investigation was warranted and were not findings of guilt against any individualCBI probe follows Bombay High Court orderDisha Salian 28 who had worked as actor Sushant Singh Rajputrsquos manager died on June 8 2020 after falling from a residential building in Mumbairsquos Malad area Rajput died at his Bandra residence six days later leading to repeated public speculation about a possible connection between the two deathsThe Mumbai Police had earlier investigated Disharsquos death and concluded that there was no evidence of foul play A subsequent Special Investigation Team also examined the matter with the earlier investigations concluding that she had died by suicideHowever Satish Salian later sought a fresh investigation alleging that the circumstances surrounding his daughterrsquos death required further examination The Bombay High Court on September 2 directed the CBI to register an FIR and conduct an independent investigation into the caseWith inputs from PTI