Wadia illegally sold 8.69% Tata Sons stake

A PUBLIC interest litigation has alleged that Bombay Dyeing group chairman Nusli Wadia has misappropriated 8.69% stake that FE Dinshaw Ltd owned in Tata Sons since the 1920s, and transferred the shares to the Shapoorji Pallonji group in the 1970s soon after he was made the administrator of the Indian trust, which owned the stake in FE Dinshaw Ltd.

- BENN KOCHUVEEDAN @Mumbai

Though the petition could not calculate the actual value of the share transaction, given that the Tata group is worth over $150 billion today, the value involved could be around $14 billion or ₹1.2 lakh crore. Dinshaw Trust, which was established by Edulji Dinshaw, the son of the senior Dinshaw, willed all its assets to two New York-based American charities.

The Indian assets of the trust included the 8.69% holding it had in Tata Sons, and over 1,000 acres of land around Malad in the northwestern suburb of the megapolis. Wadia claimed ownership over all these assets following an agreement on 1 August 2003.