Aaditya Thackeray moves HC, seeks to be heard in Sushant death case PIL

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray has moved the Bombay high court seeking to be heard before any order is passed in a public interest litigation demanding a CBI probe in connection with the deaths of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and his former manager Disha Salian.

Thackeray in his application filed on October 13 through advocate Rahul Arote said the PIL was not maintainable as a probe in the matter was already on by state machinery.

The PIL, filed by the ‘Supreme Court & High Court Litigants Association of India' through its president, Rashid Khan Pathan, in September this year demanded the immediate arrest and custodial interrogation of Thackeray in connection with the ”mysterious” deaths of Disha Salian and Sushant Singh Rajput.

The PIL has not yet been taken up for hearing by HC.

”We have filed an intervention application saying we should be heard before any order is passed. We have said the PIL is not maintainable as the investigation in Sushant Singh Rajput matter is already on by CBI,” Arote said.

”How can any order be passed in a PIL when a state machinery is already seized of the probe,” he added.

The PIL sought a direction to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe Thackeray, a former Maharashtra minister, and for a comprehensive probe report to be submitted.

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his apartment in suburban Bandra on June 14, 2020.

While the Mumbai police registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) case and started a probe, the actor's father in July lodged a complaint with the Bihar police alleging that Rajput's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty and her family members had abetted his suicide.

The case was later transferred to the CBI which is presently carrying out a probe in the city. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing allegations of money laundering against Rhea and her family, while the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is looking into claims that Rhea used to consume drugs and had also given the same to Rajput.

Disha Salian, a former manager of Rajput, died on June 8, 2020, after falling off the 14th floor of a residential building in suburban Malad. The city police had registered an ADR case.