Japanese ruling not to hit Ness Wadia’s board role

MUMBAI: The Wadia Group said on Tuesday that its director Ness Wadia will “continue to play the role” in the enterprise despite him being sentenced to a two-year suspended jail term in Japan for possession of drugs.“It is a suspended sentence (for five years). Hence it will not impact Ness in discharging any of his responsibilities, both within the group and outside,” said a Wadia group spokesperson. Ness, the elder son of Nusli Wadia, is on the board of four listed Wadia group companies, which together has a market capitalisation of $12 billion. Ness is the managing director of Bombay Burmah and is a director of Britannia, Bombay Dyeing and National Peroxide. 69121798 On Tuesday, Ness went about with his work as usual at the Wadia International Centre, the group’s HQ in south Mumbai. A suspended sentence for five years means that Ness will not have to serve jail term unless he commits any other offence during the five-year period of suspension. The news of Ness’s imprisonment made the Wadia Group companies’ shares tank by up to 10% with flagship Bombay Dyeing plunging the most in Tuesday’s volatile market. Stock exchanges have sought clarifications from the four Wadia companies following the news reports on Ness’s jail term. National Peroxide’s scrip fell nearly 6%, while shares of Bombay Burmah and Britannia went down by over 2% each. 69121491 Most legal experts TOI spoke to said the Japanese court order will not impact Ness’s directorship in listed Indian companies. Under Indian securities law, a person will be disqualified as a director of a company if he has been convicted for any offence by a court and has been sentenced for a minimum six-month jail term. However, former Sebi executive director J N Gupta, said, “Court, according to Indian Companies Act, is limited to domestic jurisdiction.” Since Ness has been convicted by a foreign court, he may not face disqualification as a director in India. One lawyer, however, said it is unclear what stand Sebi would take regarding the continuation of Ness’s directorship in the four listed Wadia companies even though there is no dispute over his conviction by a Japanese court. Ness, 47, first joined the board of Bombay Dyeing in 2001 and later other Wadia companies. He is also the co-owner of Kings XI Punjab cricket team in the popular Indian Premier League (IPL). Ness gave way to his younger brother Jeh to take charge of Bombay Dyeing, a company chaired by Nusli Wadia, who has a net worth of nearly $7 billion.

from Economic Times http://bit.ly/2GSXdFq