India’s biggest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical ordered to review accounts

NEW DELHI. India’s biggest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical said it has been ordered to undertake a “forensic” audit of its accounts, following whistle-blowers’ claims that sent its shares down sharply.

The firm said in a statement to financial markets late on Thursday that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has told it to review its financial statements for the last three years.

The note gave no reason for the audit but it follows whistle-blower complaints on alleged corporate governance lapses that sent its share price tumbling last year, Bloomberg News reported.

The allegations prompted the firm, controlled by billionaire Dilip Shanghvi, to tweak some of its business contracts to contain the crisis of confidence, according to Bloomberg.

The claims said that Shanghvi was wringing extra financial benefits from Sun’s operations through related-party transactions. In December he denied wrongdoing.

The company is “committed to adhering to all applicable legal and statutory requirements”, it said in the filing. Its shares were down 2.35 per cent late Friday morning.