NEW DELHI,apr 05:
Dissatisfied over replies of former Ranbaxy promoters on payment of Rs 3,500 crore arbitral award amount to a Japanese firm, the Supreme Court Friday said it will send the former Ranbaxy promoters to jail if they violate the order. “We will go ahead with contempt proceedings and send ex-Ranbaxy promoters to jail if there is order violation,” the court said. The court fixed the date of next hearing on April 11. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it will now straightaway hear the contempt petition against former Ranbaxy promoters Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh for non-payment of arbitral award amount to Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo. “You may be owning half of the world but there is no concrete plan as to how the arbitral amount would be realised. You said that somebody owed you Rs 6,000 crore. But this is neither here nor there,” the bench said. On March 14, the Supreme Court had asked them to apprise it how they propose to comply with the Rs 3,500 crore arbitral award passed against them by a Singapore tribunal. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the Singh brothers, who were present in the court, to consult their financial and legal advisors and give a concrete plan on how they will comply with the tribunal’s order.“It is not about individual honour but it doesn’t look good for the country’s honour. You were the flag bearers of the pharmacare industry and it doesn’t look good that you are appearing in court,” the bench also comprising justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna had said. 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, has said that it was promised some shares of Fortis Healthcare by them. Daiichi had bought Ranbaxy in 2008. Later, it had moved the Singapore arbitration tribunal alleging that the Singh brothers had concealed information that Ranbaxy was facing probe by the US Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Justice, while selling its shares. Daiichi had to enter into a settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice, agreeing to pay USD 500 million penalty to resolve potential, civil and criminal liability. The company had then sold its stake in Ranbaxy to Sun Pharmaceuticals for Rs 22,679 crore in 2015.
