Ness Wadia, business tycoon and heir to the Wadia Group, has been sentenced to a two-year jail term in Japan for possession of drugs, while on a skiing holiday to the country.
Ness, who is the co-owner of Kings XI Punjab team, is the eldest son of Nusli Wadia and heir to the 283-year-old Wadia group. As per a report of Financial Times (FT), he was caught in New Chitose Airport in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido with 25 grams of cannabis resin earlier in March this year for which he has now been sentenced.
The daily also quoted a court official saying that Wadia admitted to the crime. The tycoon argued it was for his personal use. “Mr. Wadia spent a period in detention before his indictment on March 20 and an undisclosed period of detention before a court hearing. The Sapporo District Court handed him a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for five years,” the Financial Times claimed.
Wadia has since left Japan and has returned to India, it further claimed.
The Wadia Group has confirmed the sentence and said that the Japanese court did award a jail term to Ness Wadia, but the sentence has been suspended.
A spokesperson of the Wadia Group said that the development will not impact Ness Wadia in the discharge of any of his responsibilities and he will continue to play the role that he has done hitherto, both within the Group and outside.
In 2014, Ness Wadia was accused by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta of molestation. The case was later withdrawn by Zinta.
The Wadia empire has many units, which include Bombay Dyeing, Bombay Burman Trading, biscuit giant Britannia Industries to budget airline GoAir with the total market valuation of its listed entities standing at $13.1 billion.
