“If you are a man of honour (as you say), pay Daiichi the money” Delhi HC to Shivinder Singh

Former Ranbaxy promoter Shivinder Singh today urged the Delhi High Court to allow him to mediate the Rs 3500 crore arbitration row with Japanese  Drug-maker Daiichi Sankyo.

Asking the Court to take into account “the fundamental difference” between “his approach” and his elder brother Malvinder Singh’s approach to the Daiichi-Ranbaxy fiasco,  the younger brother said that he wanted to settle the ongoing litigation.

Advocate AK Vali, appearing for Shivinder Singh, informed the Court that when he “renounced” the material world for “seva” three years ago, his net worth was Rs 35,000 crore. This value, Vali said, has now depreciated tremendously because of Daiichi Sankyo.

Vali thus sought the Court’s intervention to allow him to sit across the table with Daiichi Sankyo to settle the dispute, while urging  Daiichi Sankyo to “work jointly” in the “larger interest“.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher however asked Shivinder Singh to come back with a “viable offer” before the dispute could be referred to mediation.

“If you are a man of honour (as you say), pay him the money and let him go…Sentiments must be backed by substance.”, Justice Shakdhar remarked.

The Court today also ordered the release of Rs 17.65 crore in Daiichi Sankyo’s favour. The amount was deposited with the Court’s registry by Malvinder Singh from sale of shares in Singapore stock-exchange listed RHT Health Trust, in disobedience of the Court’s status quo order.

Counsel appearing for Malvinder Singh, Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal argued that since the money was received from the sale of assets that are beyond the court’s jurisdiction, it cannot pass an order for release of that money.

While allowing Daiichi application for release of the fund, the Court stated,

“The money is available with Court.. Decree-holder is entitled to the amount in every jurisdiction…application allowed.“

The release marks the second payment towards the satisfaction of the Rs 3500 crore award since the company moved the Delhi High Court in 2016 for its enforcement. Last moth, a sum of approximately Rs. 9 crores was released in Daiichi Sankyo’s favour.

On January 31 this year, Justice Jayant Nath of the Delhi high court had upheld the enforceability of a Rs 3500 crore arbitration award passed by a Singapore Tribunal.

The tribunal had found the Singh brothers and others guilty of several counts of misconduct when Daiichi bought their 34.82% stake for $2.4 billion in 2008. The Singh brothers and twelve others were found to have made false claims in a self-assessment report, along with misrepresenting the genesis, nature, and severity of the US regulatory investigations into Ranbaxy.

Daiichi Sankyo was represented by Senior Advocates Arvind Nigam and Arun Kathpalia. 

The matter would be next heard on October 30.

Image Courtesy: Zee News