In Art Director Nitin Desai's Death, Police Case Against Creditor

Bollywood art director Nitin Desai's wife has filed a police case against five employees of creditor ECL Finance in his death case.

Mr Desai's wife, Neha, in the first information report (FIR) alleged the officers of the company are responsible for causing severe mental stress to her husband.

She alleged the employees of the creditor firm harassed her husband over loans, which led to his death by suicide.

ECL Finance is a non-banking finance arm of Edelweiss Group.

The five people named in the FIR are Edelweiss Group chairman Rashesh Shah, company official Smit Shah, Keur Mehta, RK Bansal of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company, and Jitender Kothari, who has been appointed by the NCLT as an interim resolution professional, news agency PTI reported.

Mr Desai had been facing mental harassment in connection with the loans his company had taken, and he died by suicide because of it, the FIR said.

Mr Desai, who worked for Bollywood films such as Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar, allegedly died by suicide at his studio in Maharashtra's Raigad on Wednesday.

His company had defaulted on a Rs 252 crore loan repayment to creditors, and the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had started insolvency proceedings.

Mr Desai's company, ND's Art World Pvt Ltd, had borrowed Rs 185 crore through two loans from ECL Finance in 2016 and 2018, and troubles with repayments started from January 2020.

Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd in a statement said it is "deeply saddened by the demise of Shri Nitin Desai under tragic circumstances."

"... Nitin Desai's company was extended financial assistance in 2016 and 2018 for setting up theme park and working capital. The company encountered financial difficulties since 2020 and various attempts to improve the financial situation of the company did not bear fruit. The company was eventually referred to NCLT in 2022 and admitted in NCLT in July 2023," Edelweiss ARC said.

"Edelweiss ARC followed all legal processes as mandated by RBI and has not acted in any manner outside of the legal framework. Neither was the interest rate charged excessive nor was there at any time undue pressure being put on the borrower for recovery. We followed our own detailed procedures through established legal channels at great expense and time to us. We respect the need for the authorities to inquire into such tragic events and will cooperate fully with the enquiry process. We are confident that they will also conclude that we have acted lawfully," the company said.