Nitin Desai Suicide Case: Bombay High Court Issues Notice On Edelweiss Representatives' Quashing Plea, To Consider Interim Reliefs On August 18

The Bombay High Court today issued notice to the State on the quashing plea moved by group Chairman of Edelweiss Financial Services and the CEO of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited, who are booked for allegedly abetting art director Nitin Desai’s suicide.Bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice RN Laddha however refrained from passing immediate orders for interim protection and said the prayer for interim reliefs of “no coercive steps” and a stay of investigation will be considered on August 18, the next date of hearing.Rashesh Shah is the Chairman of Edelweiss Financial Services and Raj Kumar Bansal is the Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Limited. The duo claimed they merely followed the official procedure for recovery.Senior Advocate Amit Desai, while pressing for interim reliefs for the petitioners argued that they fulfilled their obligations under the law and the contract while recovering loan given to Desai’s company. The prosecution opposed the interim reliefs emphasizing that the FIR was filed mere eight days ago, and the investigation is still going on.Art Director Nitin Chandrakant Desai, who has worked on various Bollywood films like 1942: A love Story, Lagaan and Jodha Akbar was found dead within the premises of his own studio at Karjat on August 2, 2023. The autopsy report confirmed death by hanging.Desai left behind a series of voice notes detailing the circumstances that led to his death.On August 4, Desai’s wife – Naina – approached the Khalapur police station to register an FIR into Desai’s death. Following this an abetment of suicide case was registered against Shah, Bansal, an interim resolution professional Jitendra Kothari and two others under Sections 306, 34 of the IPC.According to a statement issued by Edelweiss- Desai, the promoter of ND's Art World Pvt Ltd (NDAWPL), had taken loans of Rs.150 crore and Rs.35 crore in 2016 and 2018, respectively, from ECL Finance Ltd, a Non-Banking Financial Company, promoted by the Edelweiss Group.The loans were primarily for financing a theme park and for repaying existing debt, besides general corporate purposes and working capital needs. "We emphasize that NDAWPL was disbursed financial assistance at prevailing market rates. It had encountered financial difficulties in 2019 and defaulted. Various attempts to improve the financial condition of the company did not bear fruit," it said.

Nitin Desai Suicide Case: Bombay High Court Issues Notice On Edelweiss Representatives' Quashing Plea, To Consider Interim Reliefs On August 18

Amisha Shrivastava

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