Nitin Desai death case: Will probe creditor’s role and whether art director was under stress, says Fadnavis

A day after well-known artwork director Nitin Desai was discovered useless, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday mentioned the position of a non-public lending agency – which had given a mortgage to Desai – could be probed to know whether or not he was charged excessive curiosity and if he was below psychological stress.

Desai was discovered useless at his ND Studio at Karjat close to Mumbai on Wednesday. His firm had borrowed Rs 185 crore by two loans from ECL Finance, a non-banking finance arm of the Edelweiss Group. The loans had been taken in 2016 and 2018, and troubles with repayments began from January 2020.

Attributable to non-payment and rate of interest, the mortgage of Rs 185 crore turned Rs 254. Desai’s firm defaulted on a Rs 252-crore mortgage to its monetary creditor, in line with an insolvency petition filed in a chapter courtroom final week as per the information company PTI.

The police on Wednesday mentioned it gave the impression to be a case of suicide and added that the matter was being investigated from all angles. Nevertheless, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar demanded that Desai’s dying shouldn’t be handled as a case of unintentional dying solely, however should be handled from a bigger perspective. “He (Desai) had taken a mortgage of Rs 180 crore for the ND Studio, which rose to Rs 252 crore. This brings ahead the functioning of the lending system by Rashesh Shah and Edelweiss ARC firm,” Shelar alleged.

The BJP chief mentioned that this case should not be investigated solely as an unintentional dying however a particular group should be deployed to research the rate of interest levied, the speed at which this curiosity escalates yearly, the restoration strategies deployed by this firm, and plenty of such points.

Congress chief Ashok Chavan mentioned the federal government ought to take over Desai’s studio as a substitute of permitting it to be auctioned. “This may be a tribute to Nitin Desai,” he mentioned. In response to the calls for, Fadnavis, who holds the house division, assured {that a} thorough probe will probably be performed within the case. “The probe into Desai’s dying will inquire into the position of collectors and whether or not he was below psychological stress and being pressured,” the deputy CM mentioned.

Within the legislative council, BJP MLC Pravin Darekar additionally demanded a probe into the circumstances resulting in Desai’s dying. He mentioned Desai had taken a mortgage of Rs 150 crore from monetary establishment Edelweiss, however the accrued curiosity took the quantity to Rs 250 crore. He mentioned the artwork director had known as him looking for assist by Mumbai District Financial institution, however his account had turn out to be a non-performing asset and the financial institution restrict to provide a mortgage was solely Rs 10-15 crore.

Darekar mentioned he himself known as CM Eknath Shinde and apprised him of Desai’s monetary woes. The chief minister helped and Desai bought an extension on his mortgage. Within the meantime, there have been efforts to see if he can get a mortgage from someplace, he mentioned. 

“Edelweiss…it ought to be probed. The unique mortgage was Rs 150 crore and curiosity (accrued) on it compelled him (Desai) to commit suicide. When the method of attaching the studio started, his psychological state was to embrace dying,” Darekar mentioned.

Desai was the creator of lavish units for movies like “Jodhaa Akbar” and “Lagaan” in addition to the favored TV quiz present “Kaun Banega Crorepati”. Aside from motion pictures, he additionally ready themes for political programmes, the state’s float for the Republic Day parade in Delhi, and likewise contributed to the beautification of ghats in Varanasi.

(With inputs from PTI)