On Thursday, the Supreme Court asked the former Ranbaxy promoters, Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh to intimate it as to how they propose to comply with the Rs 3500 crore arbitral award which was passed against them by a Singapore tribunal.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the Singh brothers to consult their financial and legal advisors and give a concrete plan on how they will comply with the tribunal order. “It is not about individual honour but it doesn’t look good for the country honour. You were the flag bearers of the pharmacare industry and it doesn’t look good that you are appearing in court”, said the bench which also included justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.
The bench has asked the Singh brothers to appear before it on March 28 and to submit the plan, saying “hopefully it will be the last time you are appearing in the court”.
The apex court was hearing the plea of Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo which is seeking to recover Rs 3,500 crore, awarded to it by a Singapore tribunal in its case against Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. The Japanese firm, which has filed the contempt plea against the Singh brothers in the apex court, said that it was promised some shares of Fortis Healthcare by them.
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The top court, on December 14 last year, had ordered status quo with regard to the sale of controlling stakes of Fortis Healthcare. “Status quo with regard to sale of the controlling stake in Fortis Healthcare to Malaysian IHH Healthcare Berhad be maintained”, the bench had said. A notice was also issued by the apex court to the Singh brothers asking them to explain as to why contempt proceedings were not initiated against them for allegedly violating its earlier order by pledging the shares.