The Supreme Court, on Friday, disposed of the company’s special leave petition against the Delhi High Court’s August 31 order.
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DEEPIKA RAJESH
Fortis Healthcare feels that the independent forensic audit will show it had no role in the transfer of shares by its erstwhile promoters, Malvinder and Shivinder Singh.
The statement comes after the Supreme Court allowed the audit to proceed while clarifying that the Delhi High Court’s observations against the hospital chain were only tentative.
Fortis had challenged the audit direction and certain observations about the company.
However, the Supreme Court, by an order last Friday, disposed of the company’s special leave petition against the Delhi High Court’s August 31 order.
The apex court clarified that the paragraphs in the Delhi High Court’s judgment containing the observations Fortis challenged are “tentative and only for the purpose of making out a case for forensic audit”.
The top court added that the audit must be conducted independently, without being influenced by those observations.
“The Supreme Court has accordingly clarified that the various paragraphs of the judgment shall not influence the conduct or outcome of the forensic audit, and that the forensic audit is required to be conducted independently of all such observations,” Fortis said.
The healthcare major stated it is a complete stranger to the Singh brothers’ dispute with Daiichi Sankyo. It was never a party to the arbitration between them and is neither a judgment debtor nor a garnishee in respect of Daiichi Sankyo’s decree. As a public listed company, Fortis said, it had no power or ability to control the transfer of shares by its erstwhile promoters, and it received no monies or proceeds from the dissipation of their shareholding.
New ownership
The filing also highlighted how the hospital chain came under new ownership. By March 2018, the Singh Brothers’ stake had fallen below one per cent and they had resigned from the board. Institutional shareholders then appointed reputable independent directors, and in June 2018 that board, advised by investment bankers and legal advisors, ran a competitive bidding process to bring in a new investor.
According to Fortis, this process led to Northern TK Venture Pte, part of Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare Berhad group, becoming Fortis’s promoter shareholder. It made its investment in November 2018 through a fresh issuance of equity shares after receiving all statutory and regulatory approvals. The deal came several months after the Singh brothers had ceased to have any relationship with the company and involved no transfer of shares from them, Fortis said.
Published on September 27, 2026
