Japanese pharma major Daiichi Sankyo approached the Delhi High Court once again on Tuesday, in another attempt to block former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh from selling their stake in Fortis Hospitals.
The court issued notice on the application and asked the Singh brothers to file a reply before the next date of hearing. In its application, Daiichi has claimed that the Singh brothers have failed to file details of their unencumbered assets in the correct format, as directed by the court in its previous order on January 23. On that day, the high court had asked the brothers to file affidavits disclosing their unencumbered assets and shareholdings before February 8.
Daiichi had approached the Delhi High Court last year, seeking the enforcement of a Rs 2,562 crore Singapore arbitration award against the Singh brothers, as well an additional sum of Rs 1,000 crore in interest payments and lawyers fees, incurred in association with the proceedings.
The April 2016 arbitral award came on the backdrop of actions initiated by Daiichi against the former Ranbaxy promoters in relation to their 2008 purchase of a majority stake in the pharmaceutical enterprise. The Japanese company has alleged that the stake sale was made through the concealment and misrepresentation of critical information regarding US Federal Drug Administration and Department of Justice proceedings, which cost Daiichi $500 million in settlement fees in the year 2013.
On Tuesday, Justice Muralidhar issued notice on the fresh plea against the Singh brothers and directed them to file the corrected affidavits along with a reply before the next date of hearing, March 6. In its January 23 order, the bench had allowed Daiichi to access the asset declarations made by the Singh brothers for use in judicial proceedings, subject to an affidavit of confidentiality being filed by the Japanese company.