Fortis says it was ‘complete stranger’ to Daiichi-Singh Brothers arbitration dispute

New Delhi: Fortis Healthcare said in a regulatory filing that it was a "complete stranger" to the dispute between Daiichi Sankyo and the Singh Brothers and was never a party to arbitration proceedings between them.

The Supreme Court, in its September 25 order, disposed of the company's Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the Delhi High Court's order in the Daiichi Sankyo arbitration case.

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The Supreme Court allowed the forensic audit directed by the Delhi High Court to proceed, while clarifying that various observations made in the High Court judgment concerning Fortis were "tentative and only for the purpose of making out a case for forensic audit."

The apex court further clarified that the forensic audit would be conducted independently and without being influenced by the observations made in the High Court judgment.

Fortis said the Supreme Court had accordingly clarified that the observations in the High Court judgment would not influence either the conduct or the outcome of the forensic audit. The company also pointed out that Delhi High Court had not imposed any liability, penalty or fine on Fortis.

Fortis said it was neither a judgment debtor nor a garnishee in respect of Daiichi Sankyo's decree. It added that being a publicly listed company, it had "no power or ability" to control the transfer of shares by its erstwhile promoters, who were the owners of those shares.

The company said it had received no money or proceeds from the dissipation of the erstwhile promoters' shareholding.

According to Fortis, by March 2018, the Singh Brothers' shareholding in the company had fallen to less than 1% and they had resigned from the board of directors. Following this, institutional shareholders came together to appoint independent directors, the company said.