Daiichi case: Supreme Court holds Singh brothers guilty of contempt of court for violating order

The Supreme Court found Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh guilty of contempt of court for violating an order. The court had asked the Singh brothers not to divest their shares in Fortis Healthcare Limited in connection with the Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta held the promoters guilty and said that they had violated an earlier order by the apex court to put the sale of their controlling stakes in Fortis Group to Malaysian firm IHH Healthcare on hold. The bench also held Fortis Healthcare guilty of contempt. It ordered both the brothers to deposit Rs 1,175 crore each to get away from contempt.

The quantum of the sentence would be announced after the court hears the Singh brothers.

The Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo had filed a contempt petition against the Singh brothers and alleged that the execution of the arbitrary award of Rs 3,500 crore was in jeopardy as the promoters had disposed of their controlling stakes in Fortis Group.

The Supreme Court had also earlier asked the Singh brothers to give it a plan on how they were aiming to honour the arbitral award of Rs 3,500 crore granted by a Singapore tribunal against them in favour of Daiichi.

The Singh brothers sold Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 for Rs 10,000 crore. In 2013, Daiichi paid $500 as felony charges in the US for selling adulterated medicines, following which it filed an arbitration case against the Singh brothers.

Also read: Daiichi case: SC to pronounce verdict on Rs 3,500 crore arbitration award against Singh brothers