Updated: 12 Oct 2019, 12:17 AM IST PTI Former promoters of. Since then, the finances of the spiritual leader and the brothers have grown intertwined, with money flowing from the Singhs to the Dhillon family via loans through shell companies and an array of arcane financial instruments, according to the documents and people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because of the ongoing legal probes. It widened the rift. But Fortis went into a cash crunch. The debt on Ligare's balance sheet shot up from Rs3.85 crore in 2007 to Rs730 crore in 2010. Daiichi-Ranbaxy case: Radha Soami head, his family move Delhi HC saying they do not owe money to RHC Holdings 3 min read . Then came the final blow. But, for the first time ever, here is the inside story of how the brothers not just lost their wealth but also their companies and reputation. Faced with a growing debt pile and allegations of financial wrongdoing, the brothers started divesting their stakes in Fortis and Religare and ultimately ended up losing control of their businesses. Finally, banks seized assets backing their loans, including the majority of their shares in Fortis and Religare. On February 16 last year, the Supreme Court had dismissed Singh brothers' appeal against the high court verdict upholding the international arbitral award, saying it was not inclined to interfere with it. Yet another controversial proposal was Religare Enterprises' plan to sell its health insurance business for nearly Rs1,100 crore. Prius Platinum, though, is still sparsely occupied. It is this firm that had borrowed the amount from Axis Bank. They say Godhwani was in charge of both Religare and RHC at the period in question. Recipient companies raised further loans at 12-14 per cent interest to buy more real estate. 19 (RHC) transferred Rs 219.5 crore each to GP (Gurpreet) and GK (Gurkirat), which was then used to subscribe to the rights issue, resulting in an allotment of 61,83,013 shares of REL to each of GP and GK. Religare is now under the regulatory lens. As a result, it was never returned! In October, based on the submissions made by Malvinder Singh, the Delhi High Court had asked all the 55 garnishees to deposit the money they owed to the Singh brothers and RHC, within 30 days. As soon as the Ranbaxy proceeds were injected into Fortis Healthcare, its business went into a dream run. Malvinder also sued Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family. The Singhs owned a 51 percent stake in Lowe. The sect is a 1918 breakaway faction of the Radha Soami sect founded at Agra in 1861 by Shiv Dayal Singh. A garnishee order is an order against a third party for the recovery of debt or dues. In the last hearing of the case on August 10, the Delhi High Court froze all bank accounts of the brothers alleging they misled the courts. The Master can advise but he cannot make a choice for you, he added.Representatives for the spiritual group said the Master has no role in its administration or finances. The role of Godhwani and Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a religious sect and the management who joined the business with Singh brothers are also on the radar. Its home to 8,000 devotees of the Master: Gurinder Singh Dhillon. The Delhi High Court (HC) has ordered Gurpreet Dhillon, the Head of Radha Soami . Dhillons told the court that RHC Holding has made false claims that they owe money to the company. How could they squander Rs22,500 crore, lose control of prized possessions such as Fortis Healthcare, once the country's largest hospital chain, and one of the largest NBFCs Religare Enterprises-all in a span of less than a decade? Dhillons told the court that RHC Holding has made false claims that they owe money to the company. Prius Real Estate, Prius Commercial Projects, Best Healthcare, Modland Wears, Fern Healthcare, Addon Realty, Hillgrow Infrastructure, Bestest Developers, Platinum Infrastructure. Buoyed by the Singh brother's fresh investments in the companies, both Religare and Fortis went on unbridled expansion drives. Heirs to a generations-old business house once worth billions, the brothers have in the last six months seen a dramatic fall in their fortunes. Interestingly, both Malvinder and Shivinder also blamed Sunil Godhwani for their downfall. Dhillon and the Singh brothers did not respond to detailed questions on whether this money was owed to Dhillon and associates for any previous transactions or was only loaned to them. The Singhs have said they are working to resolve issues with stakeholders. Complicating matters is that ancient ties of clan and religion are hard to shake in India. Both have a close relationship with the sect. "Their M&A driven global expansion strategy was, perhaps, conceived without finer understanding of the complexities and challenges that come in the scale-up of such a plan. Daiichi-Ranbaxy case: Radha Soami chief claims in Delhi High Court don't owe money to Singh brothers Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) head Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family members on Friday approached the Delhi High Court saying they do not owe any money to RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh . The Indian Express on the man and his sect Written by Manraj Grewal Sharma , Prabha Raghavan y|jmdkwO?Jy|vx
`&Zh0oIYMx-2#,$T$:H?Ui6Ne^(ZO!>\M}gTH1T:N?h}d8her=_GI. The brothers went on to use their cash reserves aggressively to build up Fortis and Religare -- which would each top $1 billion in market value as Indias demand for health and financial services surged. From revenue and net profit of Rs190 crore and Rs2.68 crore, respectively, it grew 2.5 times to Rs599 crore while profits shot up nine times to Rs24 crore by 2013/14. Meanwhile, industry wonders how much bigger a hole will this dig for the Singhs before they can redeem themselves. Prius Commercials website claims: "We own over two million square feet of commercial office space with another 1.5 million square feet in development and land capacity to develop a further 4.5 million square feet". The allegation against them is that they took loans in the name of Religare Finvest Limited -- a subsidiary of Religare -- and diverted the funds to other companies. e8 After resolving the current issues and overcoming the present challenges, we will make all possible efforts to rebound, taking learnings from these difficult circumstances, and continue our entrepreneurial journey in India and be a part of the nation building exercise.". Copyright2023 Living Media India Limited. Mangroves, low tide made Cyclone Bulbul less devastating, Aashish AryanAashish Aryan is a Principal Correspondent With The Indian Express. But since 2011, ill health, including a battle with cancer, caused the guru to step back to focus on his spiritual duties, he said. It also directed Malvinder, RHC Holdings and Oscar Investments Ltd to file additional affidavits to disclose their claims and dealings with the garnishees and also the amount due to them. For the Singhs other lenders, Daiichi Sankyo, or law enforcement seeking penalties, recovering this money from the Singh empire may depend on the terms of arcane debt securities, which arent public and can be changed with the consent of both parties. At the heart of the allegations over which the Singh brothers have been arrested is a company that was once led by Malvinder and Shivinder -- Religare Enterprises Limited (REL). According to a Business Today report, the money earned from the Ranbaxy sale was spent in four parts: The Singh brothers used nearly Rs 2,000 crore to pay off taxes and loan repayments A statement from JC Sethi, secretary of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, said Dhillon played a role helping the Singhs assert control of their fathers businesses following his death, and in guiding them after. The sub-plots, which emerge larger than the main one, include personal tussles between family membersfather-son and sibling rivalriesbesides intense friendships that led to greater animosities. At its peak, Religare was one of India's largest non-banking financial corporations (NBFC). There are many such paths, and no path is better than the other. It was fine as long as it was all within the family. Dhillon is the head of the spiritual sect Radha Soami Satsang Beas, which is a breakaway faction of the Radha Soami sect founded in the 19th century in Agra. Godhwani was also a confidante of Dhillon. On a recent Tuesday at the commune, a battalion of women volunteers sat at giant wood-fired griddles, making chapatis, the Indian flatbread. How the brothers spent the money is where things get interesting. Until you notice a striking similarity: Company after company registering it as their official address in the RoC records. The serious mismanagement under this leadership drew the attention and intervention of the regulators," says a statement issued by Religare in February this year, just before the brothers lost control. The Ranbaxy sale earned the brothers a windfall amount of Rs 9,576 crore. "We have challenged the majority Arbitration Award in Singapore Courts and the hearing for the same has concluded. RHC Holding and Oscar Investments, which had debt of barely Rs15 crore and Rs60 crore, respectively, in March 2009, had total outstanding debt of Rs4,063 crore and Rs840 crore in March 2016 & March 2017, respectively (the latest data available with RoC). The brothers had hit gold with the sale of their Ranbaxy sale, earning close to Rs 10,000 crore. Dhillon is a cousin of the Singhs mother, and he became a surrogate father to them after the death of their own in the late 1990s. A part of the rights issue was funded by RHC and the Singh brothers, who Radha Soami sect head admits to financial deals with Ranbaxy brothers spent a total of Rs 440 crore on the transaction. He was in Spain working before coming back to India to accept his nomination as the next spiritual head of RSSB in 1990. Godhwani consulted with Dhillon regularly on Religare, as would the Singhs on Fortis, the people said.In 2015, the younger brother, Shivinder, briefly took a hiatus from the business to work at the spiritual group full time.A photograph on the sects website shows Dhillon with a white beard, white turban and flowing white tunic. That was shocking considering that, as recently as June 2008, they had hit gold with Rs9,576 crore in cash from Japan's Daiichi Sankyo for the sale of India's then largest pharmaceuticals company Ranbaxy Laboratories-an inheritance from father Parvinder Singh. But by February 2018, the Singh brothers lost control of the company when lenders invoked their shareholding pledged with them against shares of Fortis. According to a Business Today report, the money earned from the Ranbaxy sale was spent in four parts: Gurinder Singh Dhillon, popularly known as the Baba, is closely linked to the story of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh's downfall. Or, in Shivinder's apparent desire to emerge as the sect's next spiritual head, the brothers gave loans to further his chances of being backed by Dhillon to head the sect and its sprawling operations. A claim that is denied by Singhs. Of the remaining Rs7,500 crore, Rs1,750 crore were. Malvinder himself moved to Singapore to manage international operations. While the Singhs are believed to have blamed Godhwani, the latter blamed it on the Singhs saying Daiichi Sankyo's allegations after the Ranbaxy deal scuttled his chances of securing the bank licence. A big reason why Fortis is in the red is the nearly Rs270 crore licence fee it pays to the RHT Trust in Singapore. It isnt clear why this money was never returned. Radha Soami is a spiritual tradition or faith founded by Shiv Dayal Singh (Soami ji maharaja) in 1861 on Basant Panchami Day in Agra, India.. His parents were Nanakpanthi, followers of Guru Nanak of Sikhism, and were also followers of a spiritual guru from Hathras named Tulsi Sahib. In July, 2017, ratings firm India Ratings & Research put Religare Enterprises, Religare Finvest and Religare Housing Development Finance on negative rating watch list. The Supreme Court had earlier expressed displeasure at the replies of Malvinder and Shivinder to its directive to submit a plan for paying Rs 4,000 crore to Daiichi Sankyo, as awarded by a Singapore tribunal. NEW DELHI: Head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family members approached the Delhi high court on Friday saying they do not owe any money to RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News. Religare was now paying nine times the annual interest of Rs1,698 crore in 2017 as against Rs182 crore in 2008. Theyre less generous to another follower of the spiritual group, Sunil Godhwani, whom they say was appointed to lead Religare at Dhillons recommendation. The loan and the write-off is under regulatory scrutiny. New Delhi: Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) head Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family members on Friday approached the Delhi High Court saying they do not owe any money to RHC Holdings Pvt Ltd, promoted by Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. 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