Sun Pharma promoter meets Sebi chief to clarify on whistleblower complaint

Dilip Shanghvi clarifies stance on various allegations, claims mala fide campaign against him and firm

Sun Pharmaceutical’s promoter Dilip Shanghvi on Monday met Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) chief Ajay Tyagi, clarifying the firm’s stance on various allegations flagged against him and others in a 172-page whistleblower complaint, said a regulatory source.

Shanghvi also requested the market regulator to look into the roles of certain entities, alleging they had adopted unfair trade practices resulting in Sun’s shares taking a plunge recently.

Sources said Shanghvi raised concerns over a certain foreign brokerage report, which, according to him, had drastically eroded shareholders’ value. Sanghvi told the regulator that some people were running a mala fide campaign against him and this needed to be stopped.

Sebi had raised queries on the alleged irregularities in the issuance of a zero-coupon foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) to raise $225 million from the international market in 2004.

Sources said Sebi asked Sun Pharma to furnish the list of FCCB holders, along with the bank statement of accounts where the money was raised. The company has sought a few days’ time to provide the details since the matter was old.

Last week, Sun Pharma had written to Sebi saying that the whistleblower documents and other confidential e-mails were being offered for inspection to institutional investors by one media house.

Shares of the pharma major crashed to a six-year low of Rs 375.40 apiece in early trade on Friday after a whistleblower sent a fresh set of documents against the promoters and others. According to it, huge transactions between Aditya Medisales and private companies of Sun Pharma’s promoters took place between 2014 and 2017. The stock plunged as much as 12 per cent on the BSE. In the past two trading days, the stock has fallen 17 per cent. 

In November 2018, the whistleblower approached Sebi with a document alleging various irregularities by the company, its promoter Sanghvi and others. Sebi had said it was examining the whistleblower complaint against the company.