Delhi HC to rule on Daiichi Rs 5,200 crore award against Fortis ex-promoters

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The Delhi High Court is expected to deliver its verdict this week in the decade-old Daiichi Sankyo arbitration enforcement case. Japanese drugmaker Daiichi is seeking to recover Rs 5,200 crore awarded by a Singapore tribunal against former Fortis promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Mohan Singh for alleged fraud in the 2008 sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories. The amount has grown from the original award due to accumulated interest.

Daiichi's counsel argued before Justice Subramonium Prasad that the Singh brothers deliberately transferred 18.6 crore encumbered shares of Fortis to avoid payment. Fortis's lawyer countered that neither the company (FHL) nor its compliance officer ever approved those transfers. The case, which has had 50 hearings since May, now hinges on whether the asset transfers were legitimate or aimed at frustrating the arbitration award. The dispute also involves lenders who invoked pledged shares to recover their own debts, making it a three-way contest over responsibility.