Full Breakdown
Aaditya Thackeray Rejects Rs 500 Crore Defamation Notice Over Disha Salian Case
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Dispute: Defamation Notice and Legal Reply
On September 16, 2026, Aaditya Thackeray posted two statements on X in English and Marathi. The next day, Satish Salian, father of the late talent manager Disha Salian, served a legal notice dated September 17 demanding INR 500 crore in damages, alleging defamation. Thackeray’s counsel, Anshuman Sinha, filed a 25-page reply with 69 points denying the allegations, stating the posts never named Satish Salian, and refusing to delete the posts, apologise, or pay compensation. The reply described the demand as “frivolous, arbitrary, speculative and intimidatory.”
Background & Context
Disha Salian, 28, died after falling from a 12th-floor flat in Mumbai’s Malad area on June 8, 2020. A week later, actor Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead, prompting speculation about a link. Initial police reports called Disha’s death accidental, later suicide. After a petition by Satish Salian, the Bombay High Court ordered a CBI probe on September 2 and instructed that no one be named as an accused. The CBI subsequently registered an FIR, shifting the investigation toward a possible homicide. Satish Salian also lodged a complaint with the President of India on March 25, 2022, and his wife filed an FIR citing Disha’s alleged depression due to “certain financial losses.”
Data & Statistics
- INR 500 crore demanded as compensation.
- Two X posts cited in the notice.
- 25-page legal reply with 69 points.
- Two parties named in the FIR: Aaditya Thackeray and former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Official Statements & Responses
- Satish Salian’s lawyer Nilesh Ojha said a CBI officer would receive a pen-drive with video-recorded eyewitness testimony alleging Thackeray’s presence at the scene and demanded the arrest of Thackeray, former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh, and others.
- Uddhav Thackeray warned that “character assassination” campaigns against his family would trigger legal action.
- The CBI has formally registered an FIR following the High Court’s directive, marking the first central-agency investigation into the 2020 death.
Criticism & Opposition
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut criticised Satish Salian’s approach, calling the delivery of the notice at the Thackeray residence “a bid for publicity” and “very cheap.”
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on the classification of Disha Salian’s death: early police records listed it as an accidental fall, later statements described it as suicide, and the recent CBI FIR frames it as a possible homicide. No conclusive forensic or judicial finding has yet been published.
Verbatim Quotes
What’s Next
Thackeray’s reply set a seven-day deadline for Satish Salian’s lawyer to withdraw the notice; failure may lead to court proceedings. The CBI investigation continues, with the agency expected to examine the pen-drive evidence and interview witnesses. The High Court’s order that no one be named as an accused will shape any future charges.