Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi have apparently set a precedence of criminal activities involving business tycoons. Though the latest criminal activity by a business scion has less to do with fraud and more to do with narcotics, in a latest move, Ness Wadia has been sentenced to prison in Japan for possession of cannabis.
Ness Wadia had gone on a skiing trip to Japan, where he had been caught with 25 gm of cannabis resin, in early March. According to a brief report carried by a local Hokkaido station, customs officials at New Chitose airport were alerted to Mr. Wadia by sniffer dogs and a search revealed that he had about 25g of cannabis resin in his trouser pocket. Ness Wadia admitted to the cannabis possession and claimed that it was for his personal use. Japan has highly strict narcotics laws which have become more stringent ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The financial times reported, “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”. It further claimed that Wadia has now left Japan and returned to India.
Wadia is an heir to the 283-year-old Wadia Group and co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab cricket team. He is the eldest son of group chairman Nusli Wadia, one of India’s richest tycoons with a net worth of $7bn, according to Forbes. They have businesses ranging from biscuit giant Britannia Industries to budget airline GoAir, with the total market valuation of its listed entities standing at $13.1bn. This is not the first time Ness Wadia has been involved in a controversy, having been accused by Bollywood star Preity Zinta of molestation and intimidation after an altercation at a 2014 cricket match.
Wadia group has claimed that this sentence is not going to impact Ness in discharging his responsibilities. The Wadia group spokesperson stated, “The judgment is clear. It is a suspended sentence. Hence it 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.”
It is pertinent to note herein that the incident occurred in early March and he was indicted on 20th March. However, not a soul in the media touched this story, and today Financial Times has broken it. After Financial Times, the other Media organizations are following it but the question to ponder upon is, why is this happening so late? It’s been almost 2 months since the incident took place and yet the media has been silent. Either it is the sheer incompetence of the Indian media or the fact that it has been seriously compromised by vested interests who could suppress a story this big until now.
Indian media, being up to date, round the clock institution it is, the latter proposition seems more likely. Ness Wadia’s origins are no secret. He is the grandson of Dina Wadia, daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah who happens to be the father of Pakistan and the enemy country’s first Governor-General. Even though Dina Wadia remained in India, being directly related to Jinnah grants the Wadia family some perks due to the hoard of Pakistan sympathisers in India. The media is supposed to be highly neutral, so one is forced to imagine if Ness Wadia’s family roots had anything to do with the fact that such an important development on the international front was hidden from the public. This points to the horrific realization that even three generations down, the Indian media remains such undying devotees of the Jinnah family, the man who led to the partition, that they are willing to compromise their journalistic ethics to shield a man who has brought dishonor on the country.