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

A day after famous art director Nitin Desai was found dead, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the role of a private lending firm - which had given a loan to Desai - would be probed to know whether he was charged high interest and if he was under mental stress.

Desai was found dead at his ND Studio at Karjat near Mumbai on Wednesday. His company had borrowed Rs 185 crore through two loans from ECL Finance, a non-banking finance arm of the Edelweiss Group. The loans were taken in 2016 and 2018, and troubles with repayments started from January 2020.

Due to non-payment and interest rate, the loan of Rs 185 crore became Rs 254. Desai's company defaulted on a Rs 252-crore loan to its financial creditor, according to an insolvency petition filed in a bankruptcy court last week as per the news agency PTI.

The police on Wednesday said it seemed to be a case of suicide and added that the matter was being investigated from all angles. However, BJP MLA Ashish Shelar demanded that Desai's death should not be treated as a case of accidental death only, but must be dealt with from a larger perspective. "He (Desai) had taken a loan of Rs 180 crore for the ND Studio, which rose to Rs 252 crore. This brings forward the functioning of the lending system by Rashesh Shah and Edelweiss ARC company," Shelar alleged.

The BJP leader said that this case must not be investigated only as an accidental death but a special team must be deployed to investigate the interest rate levied, the rate at which this interest escalates every year, the recovery methods deployed by this company, and many such issues.

Congress leader Ashok Chavan said the government should take over Desai's studio instead of allowing it to be auctioned. "This would be a tribute to Nitin Desai," he said. In response to the demands, Fadnavis, who holds the home department, assured that a thorough probe will be done in the case. "The probe into Desai's death will inquire into the role of creditors and whether he was under mental stress and being pressured," the deputy CM said.

In the legislative council, BJP MLC Pravin Darekar also demanded a probe into the circumstances leading to Desai's death. He said Desai had taken a loan of Rs 150 crore from financial institution Edelweiss, but the accrued interest took the amount to Rs 250 crore. He said the art director had called him seeking help through Mumbai District Bank, but his account had become a non-performing asset and the bank limit to give a loan was only Rs 10-15 crore.

Darekar said he himself called CM Eknath Shinde and apprised him of Desai's financial woes. The chief minister helped and Desai got an extension on his loan. In the meantime, there were efforts to see if he can get a loan from somewhere, he said. 

"Edelweiss...it should be probed. The original loan was Rs 150 crore and interest (accrued) on it forced him (Desai) to commit suicide. When the process of attaching the studio began, his mental state was to embrace death," Darekar said.

Desai was the creator of lavish sets for films like "Jodhaa Akbar" and "Lagaan" as well as the popular TV quiz show "Kaun Banega Crorepati". Apart from movies, he also prepared themes for political programmes, the state's float for the Republic Day parade in Delhi, and also contributed to the beautification of ghats in Varanasi.

(With inputs from PTI)