"The signed agreement with Sir Neville still lies in custody of the lawyers Mullah & Mullah in Mumbai and I have preserved it as an example of my folly", said Goenka at an unusually candid session at the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here where he was felicitated for his lifetime's achievements along with reclusive investor Jit Paul of the Apeejay-Surrendra Group and S K Roy of Peerless.
"I had signed and concluded the deal with Neville but his son pleaded with him, after which he asked me to reverse the completed deal- as a gentleman I agreed", Goenka said later.
"I do not blame anybody but myself for this", he said in defence of the father and son duo of Neville and Nusli Wadia.
"My successes are Ceat and CESC", he added.
Goenka had, at different stages in his life, been forced to sell the family's holdings Cochin Refineries, and Balmer Lawrie following differences with the government, and in Dunlop India following a bitter fall-out with the late Manohar Rajaram Chhabria.