Billionaire Nusli Wadia's son sentenced for drug possession

Wadia Group companies' shares tumble after Ness Wadia is given a two-year prison term in Japan in his absence

Ness Wadia was originally arrested at New Chitose Airport, Hokkaido, Japan. Reuters

Shares of companies controlled by the 283-year-old Wadia Group tanked after news broke that group chairman Nusli Wadia’s son, Ness Wadia, 47, had got a two-year prison term for possessing drugs during a skiing holiday in March in Japan.

Bed linen-maker Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing plummeted as much as 17.6 per cent on Tuesday during Mumbai trading, the most since November 2016, while Bombay Burmah Trading, which owns tea and cocoa plantations, slumped as much as 6.4 per cent. National Peroxide slid by 6.7 per cent and Britannia Industries by 3.1 per cent. Mr Wadia is a director on the board of all these companies.

A group spokesman clarified that the “suspended” jail term will not restrain Mr Wadia in discharging any of his responsibilities within the group and outside. “Ness Wadia is in India. The judgment is clear. It is a suspended sentence,” the spokesman said.

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the scion of the family that controls the aviation-to-biscuits conglomerate had spent sometime in detention before his indictment on March 20 for possessing about 25 grams of a substance that resembled cannabis resin. The Sapporo District Court had handed him a two-year prison sentence, which was suspended for five years, the report said.

Mr Wadia, who is also the co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab cricket league team, was arrested last month at the New Chitose Airport in Japan’s Hokkaido island after sniffer dogs alerted customs officials.

He is the elder son of Nusli Wadia, India’s 11th richest tycoon with a net worth of $7.1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The group traces its history to 1736, when it started with building ships for the East India Company before expanding into textiles, chemicals, plantations, consumer goods and aviation.

The sentencing of Mr Wadia comes after high-society Indian jeweller Nirav Modi was last month detained in custody over his alleged role in a $2bn Indian financial fraud after his 15 months as a fugitive were cut short when he tried to open a bank account in London.

Mr Modi, 48, whose gems have adorned film stars including Priyanka Chopra and Kate Winslet, was arrested by British police following a request by Indian authorities investigating the alleged fraud at the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB).

A judge denied Mr Modi bail because of the "substantial risk" that he would flee the UK before any extradition hearing took place. He is accused of fraudulently securing guarantees from the bank that were used to obtain loans from abroad.

UK police confirmed the arrest of Mr Modi in the London district of Holborn after he was pictured earlier that month in a British newspaper walking nearby with his dog.

A court heard that a member of bank staff alerted the authorities when he tried to open an account because his assets were frozen in India.

"He very strongly contests the allegations," Mr Modi’s lawyer, George Hepburne Scott, told Westminster magistrates court.

A UK court this month further remanded Mr Modi until May 24 who is undergoing extradition proceedings in Britain.

Mr Modi was reported in June last year to have fled to Britain where he was claiming asylum from “political persecution”.