SC rejects Singh brothers’ appeal against order allowing Daiichi Sankyo to recover Rs3,500 crore
Supreme Court rejects an appeal by former Ranbaxy owners Malvinder and Shivinder Singh against an order of the Delhi HC allowing Daiichi Sankyo to recover Rs3,500 crore from them
The SC found Singh brothers guilty of making false claims in a self-assessment report and concealing the genesis, nature and severity of the USFDA probe of Ranbaxy when Daiichi bought their stake in 2008. Photo: Mint
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal by former Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd owners Malvinder and Shivinder Singh against an order of the Delhi high court allowing Daiichi Sankyo Ltd to recover Rs3,500 crore from them.
“We are not inclined to interfere. Our answer at the moment is no,” said justice Ranjan Gogoi.
On 31 January, the Delhi high court had allowed Daiichi to enforce a foreign arbitral award ordering the Singh brothers and 13 others to pay about Rs3,500 crore to the Japanese drugmaker. The Singh brothers approached the Supreme Court challenging this order.
In a 115-page verdict, justice Jayant Nath upheld the April 2016 award by an arbitration tribunal in Singapore which had ruled in favour of Daiichi. The tribunal had directed Singh brothers to pay about Rs2,563 crore in damages, plus interest of 4.44% per year from 7 November 2008 to the date of the award.
The court found the brothers guilty of making false claims in a self-assessment report and of fraudulently misrepresenting and concealing the “genesis, nature and severity of the US regulatory investigations” of Ranbaxy when Daiichi bought their 34.82% stake for $2.4 billion in 2008. The total deal value was $4.6 billion.
The case relates to enforcement of an arbitral award in proceedings initiated by Daiichi against the Singhs in relation to its 2008 purchase of a majority stake in Ranbaxy, then owned by the brothers.
The arbitral award came after Daiichi alleged that the Singh brothers had concealed crucial information while selling Ranbaxy to it for $4.6 billion in 2008. The Singh brothers contested the award in the Delhi high court.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd purchased Ranbaxy from Daiichi in a $3.2 billion acquisition it completed in 2015.
Editor's Picks »
