Shares of Fortis Healthcare fell 2% to ₹1,412 on Aug 31, following the Delhi High Court’s directive to conduct a forensic audit of the company’s ₹4,666 crore acquisition of Singapore‑based RHT Health Trust.
The court order stems from a dispute over the IHH takeover, which bypassed the asset‑light model that had previously defined Fortis’s operations. The company, which now has 2.5 lakh shareholders, claims it is not liable for the personal debts of former promoters, a point that underpins its Supreme Court plea.
Fortis’s plea argues that the High Court’s audit request “unjustly stigmatised” a revived publicly listed entity. It also notes that the arbitration between Daiichi and the former promoters—Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh—does not implicate the current company structure.
Analysts see the 2% slide as a short‑term reaction to legal uncertainty, with no immediate change to Fortis’s financials. The company’s Q4 figures are not yet released, but market peers in the healthcare sector are showing mixed earnings guidance for the year.
Forward‑looking: the Supreme Court’s stance on the audit will dictate whether Fortis can avoid a potentially costly review. Investors will watch the next hearing scheduled for early September, which could either reaffirm the company’s standing or trigger further dilution of shareholder value.