Sooraj Pancholi spent Sunday night writing a statement he probably hoped he'd never need again.

The CBI registered an FIR on September 14 into the June 2020 death of celebrity manager Disha Salian, acting on a Bombay High Court order from September 2 that told the agency to investigate the circumstances around her death. The court did not name anyone as an accused. But reports citing advocate Nilesh Ojha, who represents Salian's father Satish Salian, say the FIR includes several names that have circled this case for years, among them Pancholi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, Rhea Chakraborty and Dino Morea. None of that has been confirmed directly by the CBI, and a name surfacing in an FIR is not the same as a finding of guilt.

Pancholi wasn't waiting around to find out how the narrative would settle. Late Sunday, he posted a statement on Instagram that read less like damage control and more like a man tired of explaining himself.

"I have never met late Disha Salian in my life, directly or indirectly. I have also never met Aaditya Thackeray in my life!" he wrote, adding that there is "no evidence or proof" tying him to the case despite years of his name getting "dragged into" it.

Not his first rodeo with this case

He pointed out he isn't new to being questioned on this. According to Pancholi, the CBI and police recorded his statement four to five years ago, and he says he has "nothing to hide." If the agency wants to talk to him again, he says, he's available. "I am completely willing to cooperate and make myself available for any investigation."

What's notable here is the tone. Pancholi isn't just denying, he's pushing back on the coverage itself. He wants a probe into what he calls "malicious propaganda and false narratives" around the case, arguing that grief over a death shouldn't turn into a free pass to wreck someone's reputation without proof. Fair point, though it's also the kind of line that tends to get made by anyone whose name lands in an FIR they say they don't deserve to be in.

He closed with an appeal that's less about the case and more about how these stories get consumed. "A headline is not evidence. A debate is not evidence," he wrote, asking people to verify before forming opinions about someone's life. The caption on the post was blunter still: "Please read because I'm sure the media won't cover this!"

The irony, of course, is that it got covered within hours.

Where this goes next depends entirely on the CBI. The agency hasn't laid out a timeline, and the High Court's brief was investigation, not indictment. Pancholi has weathered a version of this scrutiny before, over the Jiah Khan case, and has previously spoken about the years it took to clear his name in court. Whether this probe produces anything that changes his position, or anyone else's named in these reports, is now down to what the CBI actually finds.