Court to hear plea linking Thackeray to Sushant Singh's death
What's the story
The Bombay High Court will hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on February 19 seeking the arrest of Shiv Sena MLA Aditya Thackeray in connection with the deaths of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and his former manager Disha Salian, reported The Free Press Journal.
Filed by the Supreme Court & High Court Litigants Association of India, the petition is led by association president Rashid Khan Pathan, who has called for Thackeray's custodial interrogation.
Case progress
Ongoing investigations into Rajput and Salian's deaths
Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on June 14, 2020.
Initially, Mumbai Police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) case. Later, his father complained to Bihar Police accusing Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family of abetting his suicide. The case is now with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Meanwhile, Salian died on June 8, 2020, after falling off a Malad residential building's 14th floor. Malwani Police are still investigating this ADR case.
Legal move
Thackeray's intervention application in PIL
Thackeray has filed an intervention application in the PIL, asking the court to hear his side before taking any decision.
He argued that the PIL is not maintainable as the state is already investigating the case.
The deaths of Rajput and Salian, both of whom died within a week of each other in June 2020, have been mired in controversy and speculation.
Connection
How is Thackeray related to the case?
According to police records, Salian was at a Malad flat with her boyfriend and friends when she locked herself in a room following a minor argument.
Shortly after, her boyfriend, Rohan, was alerted by security that she had fallen from the building.
Amid the investigation into SSR's death, politician Narayan Rane alleged in a press conference that Thackeray and his friends were involved in Salian's death.
However, Salian's parents insisted they did not believe their daughter was murdered.
Information
Additional probes: ED and NCB's involvement in Rajput's case
Separately, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing allegations of money laundering against Chakraborty and her family. Meanwhile, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is looking into allegations that Chakraborty consumed drugs and supplied them to Rajput. All these investigations are part of the larger probe into Rajput's death.