Shivinder Singh, ex-promoter of Ranbaxy and Fortis, files for personal insolvency as billionaire heir’s fall from grace deepens

Shivinder Mohan Singh, the former promoter of Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises , has filed for personal insolvency before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Bar and Bench reported. According to the report, the plea for personal insolvency was presented briefly to the NCLT in Delhi, which deferred the matter. The hearing is now expected to take place in May.

Shivinder and his brother Malvinder Singh were once India’s most hallowed figures in the healthcare industry. Grandsons of Bhai Mohan Singh, the founder of Ranbaxy —the largest pharmaceutical company in India at the time—the brothers inherited a 33.5% stake in the company, whose control was wrested from Bhai Mohan by Parvinder Singh, his son and father of the Singh brothers.

However, the Singh brothers surprised everyone when they sold their stake in Ranbaxy at its greatest ebb to Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 for $4.6 billion (approximately ₹59,700 crore today), ensuing much media attention, especially for the price that it fetched.  They then used the proceeds from the sale to aggressively expand Fortis Healthcare .

The storied business empire that they once helmed started unravelling when accusations of siphoning money from the proceeds of the Ranbaxy sale to the Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a spiritual sect in the Radha Soami movement. The brothers are also accused of siphoning ₹500 crore from the publicly listed Fortis Healthcare. Amid mounting debts and government sleuths breathing down the brother’s necks, they relinquished control of the companies.

The accusations of embezzlement notwithstanding, Daiichi Sankyo also unearthed evidence after the deal that Ranbaxy was under investigation by the US FDA (Food & Drug Administration) for data falsification, non-compliance, and quality control issues. These issues pre-dated the sale, but Daiichi alleged that the Singh brothers had concealed material information during the deal — essentially accusing them of fraud.

In 2013, Daiichi filed for international arbitration in Singapore, seeking damages for misrepresentation and concealment of facts.  Three years later, a Singapore tribunal ruled in favor of Daiichi, awarding ₹3,500 crore (approximately $562 million) in damages against the Singh brothers.

Daiichi sought to enforce the award in Indian courts. The Singh brothers contested it, denying liability, but Indian courts upheld the award. In October 2019, both brothers were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Delhi Police on charges of financial fraud and misappropriation of funds from Religare Finvest. Shivinder was denied bail, and for a time, both brothers were lodged in Tihar Jail. Disillusioned, Daiichi exited India.

As the crisis deepened, Shivinder Singh began distancing himself from Malvinder, claiming he was being misled and that he had no role in the fraudulent decisions. In a move that stunned observers, Shivinder Singh filed a legal case against Malvinder in 2018, accusing him of mismanagement of family wealth, fraudulent diversion of funds from Religare and Fortis, causing irreparable damage to their businesses and reputation

Shivinder also renounced his stake in their holding company, RHC Holdings, and blamed Malvinder for dragging the family into the Daiichi litigation. Malvinder hit back, alleging that Shivinder had blindly followed spiritual leader Gurinder Singh Dhillon, and that thousands of crores were siphoned off under his guidance and with Shivinder's knowledge.