Edelweiss officials, who are accused of abetting the suicide of film art director Nitin Desai, have claimed that they met him only once after his loan was approved and had limited dealings with his loan account.
Edelweiss Financial Services (EFS) chairman Rashesh Shah, and Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company (EARC) Ltd managing director and CEO Raj Kumar Bansal have approached the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the FIR registered against them for allegedly abetting Desai’s suicide.
Bombay HC Denies Interim Relief For Edelweiss Officials
On Friday, a division bench of Justices Nitin Sambre and RN Laddha refused to grant urgent interim relief from coercive action and issued a notice to Desai’s wife – the complainant in the case – and kept the matter for hearing on August 18.
In their plea, Shah and Bansal have argued that it cannot be said that they put “extraordinary pressure” on Desai and they merely followed the lawful procedure for loan recovery. Mere allegation of initiating legal proceedings to recover dues from a debtor does not make out offence of abetment of suicide, they have contended.
Bansal has claimed that he met Desai only once, on June 26 this year, when he informed the art director that his one-time settlement proposal could not be approved due to non-compliance with the relevant RBI circular.
Details Of Edelweiss Officials' Petition
According to Shah’s petition, ECLF, in December 2020, assigned the debt (loan of Rs 150 crore and Rs35 crore taken in 2016 and 2018, respectively) to the highest bidder, CFM Asset Reconstruction Pvt Ltd, and EARC acquired Desai’s firm’s debt from CFM in December 2022. The duo have claimed that EARC merely continued the proceedings already initiated by CFM in the usual course of business.
Thus, they “did not put extraordinary pressure” on Desai and his wife by commencing various proceedings under the Negotiable Instruments Act.
Shah’s plea claims that he did not induce Desai into applying for the loans. Rather, Desai had approached ECLF with a request for a loan to retire debt that his firm had previously incurred from other lenders. At the time, Desai had made representations as to the robustness of the business model and prospects of his studio. Prior to the proposal for sanction being put before the investment committee, Shah had no occasion to meet or speak or otherwise deal with Desai, Shah’s plea adds.
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