SINGH BROTHERS’ FIGHT TURNS UGLY
THE FEUD TOOK AN UGLY TURN ON THURSDAY WITH MALVINDER SINGH ALLEGING HE WAS PHYSICALLY ASSAULTED BY HIS BROTHER
: Two months after Shivinder Singh, the younger of the two warring brothers and former promoters of Fortis healthcare Ltd, brokered a truce, he has decided to break all ties with his sibling once again. The decision came after Malvinder Singh released a video on Thursday alleging he was physically assaulted by Shivinder Singh.
The allegations are “false” and a “shameless attempt” to cast doubts on “his integrity”, Shivinder Singh said on Friday. “The latest incident closes all options for any possible solution to work together.”
“The gulf between our value systems is clearly too wide. It has been clear to me for some time that Malvinder and I cannot work together. I apologize for these distractions to our employees and creditors and remain focused on trying to find pragmatic solutions to address the group’s issues which are far larger than the two of us and need urgent solution,” he said.
Shivinder Singh claimed the incident happened on December 5 in their office where he had gone for a scheduled extraordinary general body meeting (EGM).
On his arrival he learnt that Malvinder and one of his relatives intimidated another director at the EGM and tried to coerce some employees into video-recording statements, he said. Shivinder Singh said the director had left the ongoing board meeting and being concerned about the well being of employees, went to find out what was going on.
“Angered on seeing me there Malvinder attempted to forcibly restrain me and pinned me to the wall choking me. I tried to push him away in self-defence,” he said. Shivinder Singh said he had also lodged a police complaint. However, he withdrew the complaint after the intervention of the family.
“If I was the aggressor, I wonder why he did not lodge a police complaint instead of (indulging in) public gimmickry, displaying a fake cast for an injury (that he) never had,” he said.
The feud took an ugly turn on Thursday with Malvinder Singh alleging he was physically assaulted by his brother.
“Shivinder Mohan Singh assaulted me, he physically hit me. He hurt me. He injured me. He broke the button. He bruised me... kept threatening me and refused to budge until the team here came together and separated him from me,” Malvinder Singh said in a video, showing his bruises. He said the incident occurred on Wednesday a little after 6pm at 55, Hanuman Road, in New Delhi.
Mint has seen the video. Malvinder Singh said his brother disrupted the board meeting of group company Prius Real Estate Pvt. Ltd, which he claimed seeks about ₹2,000 crore from the Dhillon family, shareholders in companies floated by the Singh brothers.
“Approximately ₹3,000 crore have become due for payment from Prius to the RHC Group. Then, the Dhillon family owes Prius Real Estate some ₹2,000 crore, which has become due. The meeting was held to recover the money from the Dhillon family, which would have flown to RHC and eventually Daiichi Sankyo and other lenders,” Malvinder Singh said.
He said that his brother became physical and disrupted the meeting despite not being a shareholder or an employee of the group.
Malvinder Singh in his statement on Friday said, “This simply reinforces the fact that Shivinder is not equipped to handle professional situations but instead is a hindrance in recovering dues owed to the group”.