Shivinder Singh withdraws petition against brother Malvinder: All you need to know about the Singh brothers fracas

Mumbai: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Friday granted former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh’s request to withdraw the petition of oppression and mismanagement he had filed against his brother Malvinder and ex-Religare chief Sunil Godhwani. “The NCLT today granted my request to withdraw the petition of oppression and mismanagement I had filed against my brother Malvinder, and Godhwani. I am indebted to the Court for accepting my request,” Shivinder said in a statement.   Shivinder had earlier this month filed an application before the Delhi bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) alleging that collective and ongoing actions of Malvinder and Godhwani led to a systemic undermining of the interests of the companies and their shareholders. [caption id=“attachment_5183221” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file photo of Shivinder Singh and Malvinder Singh. Reuters[/caption] Confirming the move, Shivinder told PTI: “I have applied to withdraw the petition before NCLT, that is coming up for hearing.” “There is a mediation process that has been kicked off and if it does not work I have the option of refiling it,” he added. Following the latest development, shares of Religare Enterprises were trading over 6 percent at Rs 45.30 at 1.02 PM. Shivinder Singh’s petition in NCLT Shivinder Singh had moved NCLT to remove his elder brother Malvinder from the board of RHC Holdings alleging “blatant acts of mismanagement” by him and also asked to reconstitute the board of the company. Shivinder had alleged “illegal and unlawful manipulation of records” of RHC Holdings including forging of signature of his wife Aditi Singh, while asking the NCLT to declare that Malvinder and ex-Religare chief Sunil Godhwani caused grave prejudice to the interest of the company by acting in “collusion with each other”. The younger brother had also requested the tribunal to allow him or his authorised representatives to inspect the statutory records of RHC Holdings and taking copies thereof. He had prayed to “reconstitute the Board of Directors of Respondent No. 1 company (RHC Holdings) in exclusion of Respondent No. 2 (Malvinder Mohan Singh) and/or his officer, agent, servant or representative”. Shivinder also requested NCLT to “direct Malvinder Mohan Singh and Respondent No. 4 (Sunil Godhwani) to restitute the undue gains made by themselves which lead to losses being suffered by the petitioners and RHC Holdings”. Shivinder prayed NCLT to direct Malvinder Singh and Sunil Godhwani to “restitute and restore the wealth of RHC Holdings which got eroded due to their unlawful actions” and disclose “their assets, bank accounts and net worth”. The petition filed through law firm RRG & Associates also asked NCLT to direct Malvinder “to return the funds unlawfully taken from Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises”. Shivinder requested NCLT to direct Malvinder and Godhwani “not to alienate any interest in any asset anywhere so that recoveries can be effected against them”. NCLT issues notice to Malvinder Singh, Sunil Godhwani Passing an interim order over Shivinder’s earlier plea, the principal bench of NCLT on 6 September directed to maintain status quo over the shareholdings and composition of RHC Holding board. The tribunal had also issued notice to Malvinder along with Godhwani and other respondents over Shivinder’s petition alleging “oppression and mismanagement” of RHC Holding. It had also allowed both parties – Shivinder Singh and his wife Aditi Singh – and other party Malvinder Singh to inspect documents and take photocopies of the records of RHC Holding. RHC Holding Pvt Ltd is a non-banking financial company owned by the families of Singh brothers. Currently, Malvinder Singh is the managing director of the firm. As on 27 August, Malvinder and Shivinder were the promoters of Religare on behalf of PS Trust while RHC Finance and RHC Holding were the promoter groups, according to data available on bourses. Singh brothers blame Godhwani for the group’s troubles “The Group’s troubles today stem from the Group’s association with Sunil Godhwani who had started his association in Religare as its CEO in 2001,” Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh said in a joint statement in August. Godhwani had stepped down as the chairman and managing director in 29 July, 2016. Subsequently, he assumed charge of the CEO in Religare Enterprises. After the Ranbaxy sale closed in 2008, it was decided that Godhwani will lead our family office in addition to his role in Religare, and from 2008-end, he had full management control of RHC Holding and its subsidiaries, it added. He was expected to be a responsible trustee and steward of the family’s resources and consequently our reputation, the statement said. “Godhwani used his position to conceive and orchestrate a series of transactions over the better part of a decade that led to our Group’s debt load by 2016,” it added. With inputs from agencies