According to the police, a case of abetment to suicide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered based on the complaint given by Desai’s widow, Neha. In her complaint Neha has alleged that Desai was “harassed by the officials to repay the loans availed by him”. The police have also invoked section 34 ( common intention) of the IPC in the matter.
In November 2016, a loan of Rs. 150 crore was availed by Nitin Desai’s company, ND’s Art World Private Limited, and an additional Rs. 35 crore was availed in February 2018 from ECL Finance, a group company of the Edelweiss group. The account started defaulting in January 2020. The total outstanding dues amounted to Rs. 252 crore. Subsequently Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd filed a Company Petition before the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal after Desai’s company failed to repay the said loan.
On July 25 NCLT ordered an ‘initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process’ against Desai’s company. Desai appealed before the NCLAT however his appeal was dismissed.
On Wednesday the staff at Desai’s Karjat studio found his body. The Raigad police had registered an accidental death register (ADR). On Thursday, the Raigad police recorded 13 statements including that of Desai’s wife and staff members at the ND Studio where his body was found. The police have also sent 11 audio clips recovered from Desai’s mobile phone where he purportedly spoke of being under duress owing to financial constraints for forensic analysis. The postmortem report confirmed death due to hanging, the police said.
“Based on the complaint given by Neha Desai who has alleged that certain officials of the ECL Finance Ltd of the Edelweiss group were harassing Nitin Desai over the loan repayment, following which he was under stress and ended his life. A case of abetment to suicide has been registered and the probe is underway. The said case has been registered against five officials,” Raigad police said in a statement on Friday. “We are deeply saddened by the demise of Shri Nitin Desai and express our deepest condolences to his family as they navigate through this difficult time. Regarding this development, The NCLT’s Mumbai bench, in its judgement, ordered an ‘initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process’ against Nitin Desai’s company, ND’s Art World Private Limited, on July 25, 2023,” Edelweiss ARC said in a statement on Thursday. “In the order, the bench also appointed Jitender Kothari as the interim resolution professional to carry out the steps mentioned under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. ND Art’s Appeal against this NCLT admission order in the NCLAT Principal Bench, New Delhi, was dismissed by its order on August 1, 2023. The loan of Rs. 150 crore was availed in November 2016, and an additional Rs. 35 crore was availed in February 2018 from ECL Finance. The account started defaulting in January 2020.The total outstanding dues amounted to Rs. 252 crore, for which the NCLT was petitioned in July 2022. We are committed to fully cooperating with all the relevant authorities. Our commitment to transparency, cooperation, and adherence to the legal process remains steadfast,” the statement added.