Sun Pharma stocks plunge on revelation of whistleblower's complaint

Mumbai, Jan 18 (IANS) The stock of pharmaceutical major Sun Pharma ended up as the top loser on the BSE Sensex on Friday following reports of a complaint by a whistleblower to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) against the company.

The company scrip tanked over 12 per cent at one point to Rs 390.50 apiece, losing Rs 36.65, or 8.58 per cent, from its previous close of Rs 427.15.

After the steep fall in its share price, Sun Pharma in a letter to Sebi said there is great asymmetry in information circulating between analysts, investors and the media, leading to intense speculation.

"We wish to bring to your kind notice an alleged second whistleblower complaint filed against our Company, which we learnt from a media report on January 15, 2019," Sun Pharma said.

"There is a great asymmetry in the information circulating between analysts,
investors and media leading to intense speculation. The availability of information contained in the whistleblower documents to a set of selective investors does put other investors including retail investors in a disadvantageous position," it said.

"We are concerned that certain entities/individuals are adopting unfair trade practices prejudicial to the interest of shareholders and other stakeholders.

"It is evident from the fact that shareholders value has been drastically eroded within a short span of time due to unsubstantiated complaint/allegation against the company and mala fide campaign launched by certain media houses," it added.

The whistleblower's complaint regarding transactions that took place between 2014-2017 and were worth over Rs 5,800 crore, alleges that Indian drugs manufacturer Aditya Medisales Ltd had transactions with Suraksha Realty, controlled by Sun Pharma's co-promoter, Sudhir Valia.