Ness Wadia Gets Two-Year Jail Term in Japan for Drugs. Who is He?

Ness Wadia admitted to the possession of drugs in Japan, saying that it was for his personal use.

Ness Wadia admitted to the possession of drugs, saying that it was for his personal use.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Ness Wadia, the heir to the 283-year-old Wadia Group, was recently sentenced to a suspended two-year jail term in Japan over possession of drugs while on a skiing holiday.

Wadia, the business tycoon and the owner of the Kings XI Punjab cricket team, was arrested at the New Chitose Airport in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido in early March for possession of 25 grams of cannabis resin.

Wadia, a name that often finds a place in the news cycle, admitted to the possession of drugs saying that it was for his personal use.

But Who Exactly is Ness Wadia?

Ness is the heir to the Wadia business empire, a direct descendant of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Bollywood actress Preity Zinta's former boyfriend, and one of India’s richest men, among other things.

ILLUSTRIOUS FAMILY

Ness, 47, hails from a family of businessmen and illustrious personalities. He is a great-grandchild of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

Ness Wadia senior, his other great-grandfather, was a shipping and textile magnate. The Wadia family made their fortune as master shipbuilders for the British in 17th-century Mumbai, an association that earned them both money as well as land grants, as per a Scroll report.

His grandfather, Neville, was the chairman of the Bombay Dyeing textile company before his father, Nusli, took over.

Ness’ mother, Maureen, was a former flight attendant who is the president of the Gladrags beauty pageants. His brother, Jehangir, is the managing director of GoAir airline.

Ness and his brother Jehangir are the direct and only descendants of Jinnah and his family, after their father.

BUSINESS TYCOON

Ness is most famously known for being the co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab IPL franchise. He, along with actress Preity Zinta and businessman Mohit Burman, had acquired the team in 2008 for $76 million.

He is also the managing director of the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation and is on the board of directors of several other major companies. He is also a Board Member of Wadia Hospitals.

Till 2011, Ness served as the joint managing director of the Bombay Dyeing textile company.

He holds degrees in international relations (Tufts University) and a masters of science in engineering management (University of Warwick).

He was also in the news for dating Zinta for more than four years, and has been linked to Nargis Fakhri and Janine Jeejeebhoy, the daughter of a wealthy Parsi businessman as well, as per the Scroll report.

PAST CONTROVERSIES

In 2014, Zinta had filed a police complaint against Ness, alleging that he had physically and verbally abused her during an IPL match in Mumbai.

Zinta claimed that Ness had intimidated her on the day, and threatened to “make her disappear”. She also alleged that he had misbehaved with her on several occasions earlier as well.

“During that time he tried to abuse me and used extremely derogatory language and tried to behave in a manner where I was put to shame in front of my colleagues, friends and family... I say that Ness Wadia has gone to the extent of threatening me with dire consequences and intimidating me by boasting of his political clout and connections.”

Preity Zinta in her complaint

The police booked Ness for intentional insult, criminal intimidation and assault with the intention to outrage the modesty of a woman.

He had dismissed the allegations as “false and baseless”.

In 2016, Ness’ driver had alleged that he had abused and beaten him, as per News18. According to the complainant, Ness had asked him (driver) to cover the distance between Parel in Central Mumbai to Fort in South Mumbai within ten minutes last evening, a senior officer said.

The distance is tentatively 24 kilometres. The complainant stated that as he could not cover the distance within ten minutes as directed, Wadia abused him and also beat him up.

(With inputs from Scroll, PTI)