Public apology in respect of article published on July 2 and Dec 16, 2024

ON July 2, 2024, and December 16, 2024, we inadvertently published two false and incorrect articles (the Articles) headlined, a) On July 2, 2024: Whistleblower blows lid off Fraud on court by businessman (Article- I); and b) On December 16, 2024: Wadia illegally sold 8.69% of Tata Sons stake (Article-2} Since publication of the articles, Mr Nusli Wadia, through his Solicitors, has pointed out to us, and demonstrated through documents, that both Articles are factually incorrect, baseless and false, and were published without duly verifying the facts and / or seeking prior inputs or comment from him.

We regret our failure to seek such inputs and comment, and the publication of false assertions in both Articles. Had we approached Mr Wadia before publication, he would have set the record straight by providing the true and correct facts, which, regrettably, we did not do. Had we done so neither Article I nor Article 2 would have been published.

We have, therefore, agreed to publish this unconditional apology along with the following Statement of Factual Corrections with respect to the Articles.

Article 1 and Article 2 refer to an alleged public interest litigation by one Pankaj Phadnis and contained brazenly false, unsubstantiated and incorrect statements.

The correct fact is that the alleged public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Mr Phadnis (dismissed by High Court on - December 12, 2024) does not contain any of the allegations as asserted in both the Articles. Both the Articles were, therefore, clearly erroneous.