Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) A sessions court here has denied anticipatory bail to three film production executives accused of misappropriating

Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) A sessions court here has denied anticipatory bail to three film production executives accused of misappropriating

Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) A sessions court here has denied anticipatory bail to three film production executives accused of misappropriating

Mumbai, Oct 29 (PTI) A sessions court here has denied anticipatory bail to three film production executives accused of misappropriating more than Rs 3.92 crore during the making of upcoming film "Naagzilla".

In separate orders passed on Wednesday, Additional Sessions Judge (Dindoshi court) M Mohiuddin ruled that there was prima facie material against them about their involvement in the offence.

Their custodial interrogation was necessary for detailed investigation into the matter, the court said.

The three are consultant and signing authority Kuldeep Singh Champawat (47), service provider and executive producer Mahipal Karan Rathore (42), and line producer Shivkumar Tiwari (45).

As per the prosecution, an FIR was lodged by Tukaram Mahadev Sawant, accountant with Mahaveer Jain Films Pvt. Ltd, which is led by Mahaveer Jain and his wife Neetu Jain.

On October 30 last year, the company entered into an agreement with Dharma Productions Pvt. Ltd. to produce "Naagzilla" with a total budget of Rs 82.50 crore.

The complainant alleged that Champawat approached Mahaveer Jain to handle the film's production and subsequently recommended his relative, Rathore, who was appointed as a service provider. Tiwari was hired as the line producer to onboard vendors for vehicles, makeup, and junior artistes.

The prosecution alleged that the three colluded to bypass the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and incurred unaccounted expenditure of Rs 3,92,76,308 without submitting requisite bills or vouchers.

They also allegedly inflated a vendor's bill from Rs 85,000 to Rs 1.30 lakh, paid Rs 45,000 to a firm named ANM Global that rendered no services to the film, and cleared over Rs 1.50 lakh in fabricated bills prepared with a production assistant, the police submitted.

Additionally, the investigating officer informed the court that the accused extracted commissions and mobile handsets from vendors to award work and clear bills.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)