Maharashtra: Is sculptor Jaydeep Apte a ‘scapegoat’ in Shivaji statue collapse?

After a 28-foot statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj collapsed in Maharashtra’s Rajkot Fort on August 26, its hapless sculptor became the target of abuse, hate and threats online, culminating in his arrest earlier this week.

Jaydeep Apte faced death threats and calls to sexually abuse his wife from outraged social media users. He went into hiding soon after the statue – which had been inaugurated with much fanfare by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December – fell in Sindhudurg. 

While the statue itself was commissioned by the Indian Navy and maintained by the state Public Works Department, Apte drew most of the blame for the incident. Opposition politicians claimed he had no prior experience in constructing large statues, and alleged that he received the contract for this one since he was an “acquaintance” of Shrikant Shinde, the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

But contrary to several claims, Apte has been formally trained as a sculptor. And while some news reports claim Apte is only 24 years old, he’s actually 39 years old.

Apte was arrested on September 4 in Kalyan. He was booked for attempt to commit murder after a complaint was filed by a PWD engineer named Ajit Patil at Malvan police station. 

The complaint alleged “misconduct” by both Apte and one Chetan Patil, who had been a structural consultant for the statue. The engineer claimed Apte and Chetan, despite being aware of the “potential danger” posed to tourists, “conspired” to build a substandard statue, and that the statue’s collapse could have potentially killed visitors. 

The Malvan police subsequently registered an FIR in the case. Chetan Patil was arrested as well.

Apte’s lawyer Ganesh Sovani told Newslaundry the FIR was “hastily filed” eight hours after the statue fell based on the complaint from Ajit Patil, whom he described as a “PWD assistant engineer with a background in civil engineering but no expertise in metallurgy”.

Sovani also said Apte had “substantial work experience” and “nine years of specialised training in arts and sculpture”.

“Apte secured the contract worth Rs 2.42 crore through a successful tender bid from the Indian Navy at Navy Dockyard, Mumbai. To fulfil it, he invested his own money and took a loan for materials, spares and labour,” his lawyer said. “He completed the project in record time and the statue was unveiled by PM Modi only after passing all required inspections, including checks for durability. Even checks on its withstandability were done, about which no complaint was ever made.”

He added, “Despite this, Apte is now facing accusations of attempting to commit murder. It is unjust, given that there were no previous complaints about the statue’s condition.”

But who is Apte? How did he win the Navy contract, and why was only he – and not Chetan Patil – targeted online?

Training and work 

Apte is from a lower middle-class family in Dudh Naka area of Kalyan (West) in Thane. He completed his schooling at Subhedar Wada High School in Kalyan. In 2002, after graduating from Class 12, he pursued a one-year foundation diploma course at Model Art Institute in Mumbai’s Dadar.

Apte then enrolled at Raheja School of Arts in Bandra for a four-year general diploma course in applied arts. After he graduated, he continued his education at the prestigious JJ School of Arts where he earned a four-year general diploma in sculpture and modelling, finishing his course in 2010. Newslaundry has copies of his education certificates.

With nine years of training under his belt, Apte’s body of work includes over a dozen sculptures for both government and private institutions. He sculpted a seven-foot bronze statue of a Sikh soldier in Huddersfield, London, for the Sikh Soldiers Organisation. He created another statue of a Sikh soldier, unveiled in Glenwood in Sydney, for the Australia-based Fateh Foundation. He made a six-foot statue at IIT Powai, an eight-foot statue for the Indian Naval ship Hamla, a nine-foot group sculpture for the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, and a 16-foot statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Dandi, Gujarat. 

In Maharashtra, his work is on display at the Kankavli Nagar Parishad, Sanyukta Maharashtra Kala Dalan in Dadar, Mumbai University, DHL India, and Shri Chinmaya Mission, among others.

The Navy contract

In August 2023, the integrated headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Navy) floated a tender to manufacture and erect a sculpture of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Sindhudurg. On September 8, 2023, Apte was awarded a contract to build the statue.

The work order, dated September 8, 2023 and issued by the Indian Navy, said the contract for the statue was Rs 2,04,27,580 – a little over Rs 2.04 crore. The work order said the delivery of services, meaning the completion of the statue, must be done within 180 days from September 8.

The work order clearly laid out quality assurances and inspections that would be carried out by the Navy. It said Apte must adhere to the Navy’s inspection schedule, including “both preliminary and final checks”. Apte would have to submit a quality assurance plan for approval and a standard acceptance test procedure, have all necessary testing facilities available for inspection, and provide items as per latest models that meet current production standards.

According to the work order, Apte was not given an advance payment for the project; payment would only be made on completion of work, installation of the statue, and the issuance of a completion certificate by the user department of Mumbai’s Naval Dockyard. 

The payment structure outlined in the work order said 30 percent of the order value would be paid on completion of the sculpture fabrication work, 30 percent on delivery of the sculpture at the Sindhudurg site, and 40 percent on successful commissioning (completion) of the project.

The work order required Apte to submit a bank guarantee of 10 percent of the contract value – about Rs 20.04 lakh – to the account of the admiral superintendent at Naval Dockyard.

A source close to Apte’s family told Newslaundry that the sculptor took out a loan of Rs 65 lakh from a cooperative bank for material, spares and labour to start the project. The source said the sculpture was inaugurated on December 4, 2023 but Apte was only paid in February.

‘Anxiety, frustration, heartache’

On February 13 this year, Apte tweeted saying: “Completed such a big project in 1/4 time by mortgaging each and every thing we have. We did not get a single rupee of work, but I got a lot of anxiety, frustration, heartache. This was not expected from the Indian Navy.” He tagged the Prime Minister’s Office, the state Chief Minister’s Office and the Navy in his tweet.

His lawyer Sovani told Newslaundry the FIR against the sculptor was filed “without any expert evaluation of the statue’s remains to determine if there was any fault in manufacturing or materials”.

“The FIR lacks merit as it does not report any injuries to passersby or tourists who might have been underneath the statue at the time of its collapse,” he pointed out. “...This complaint threatens to ruin an artist’s career without proper evidence.”

On the online trolling of Apte, Mumbai lawyer and political analyst Harish Kerzekar attributed it to the “recurring dynamic of Brahmin versus non-Brahmin” that the state’s politicians “often exploit for their advantage”. Apte is Brahmin and the BJP in the state is seen as having “significant Brahmin support”, he said.

“For instance, in the 2004 assembly polls, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance was poised for victory. However, a controversy erupted surrounding Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj following the release of James Laine’s contentious book,” he said. “The Congress-NCP coalition seized this opportunity, capitalising on the emotional significance of Shivaji Maharaj to the people of Maharashtra, where he is revered almost as a deity. By stirring this controversy, they managed to sway public sentiment and secure their win.”

In this case, with state assembly polls around the corner, Kerzekar said the Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena (UBT) were trying to “capitalise” on the situation again to “make the election about Brahmins versus non-Brahmins to weaken the BJP’s chances of winning”.

“Every political party in Maharashtra is exploiting the legacy of Shivaji Maharaj for their own gain which is morally unacceptable,” the lawyer said. “The government and Navy should also be held accountable for the statue’s collapse but the focus has now shifted only to unfairly blaming the sculptor.”

Newslaundry sent a detailed questionnaire to Commander Mehul Karnik, Defence PRO and spokesperson for the Indian Navy in Mumbai. This report will be updated if he responds.

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