Ten years after he resigned from the Ranbaxy board following a spat with his son, Parvinder Singh, over the role of D S Brar in the company, Bhai Mohan Singh on Thursday gave full credit to Brar for Ranbaxy's recent successes.
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"Brar has proved his worth. So many good things that have happened to Ranbaxy were concretised during his time," Bhai Mohan Singh, 85, told Business Standard. Bhai Mohan Singh is the founder of Ranbaxy and is the chairman emeritus of the company.
When asked about his change of heart, Bhai Mohan Singh said: "My problem wasn't with Brar. It was with my son. He was upgrading Brar over others. I was angry that he was displeasing others who had been with me for long and had worked hard for the company. And when Brar was named CEO of Ranbaxy (in 1999), I left the company. How could I have stopped his appointment?"
According to sources close to the Singh family, the thaw in relations between the two has been happening for a while with Bhai Mohan Singh writing long letters to Brar praising his work.
On September 20, Bhai Mohan Singh sent a congratulatory letter to Brar after Ranbaxy was named the company of the year by The Economic Times.
He had also sent a cheque of Rs 51,000 along to hold a tea party for the senior executives of the company. Brar replied on September 29, offering to hold the party at Ranbaxy's expense.
It is also worth noting that Bhai Mohan Singh had flown to the United States last year, when Ranbaxy had held its board meeting there. According to people who were present there, Bhai Mohan Singh was moved by the gesture and was full of praises for the vision of his son, Parvinder Singh.
Bhai Mohan Singh also expressed his pleasure on his grandson, Malvinder Mohan Singh, being co-opted on the Ranbaxy board. "He met me before going to office the day after it was announced," Bhai Mohan Singh said.
Immediately after Parvinder Singh had died in July 1999, Bhai Mohan Singh had been demanding that his grandsons, Malvinder and his brother Shivinder, be given board seats.
But the brothers said they would join the board only after they had gained sufficient professional experience. "I never said that they should take their father's seat. They could have learnt while on the board," Bhai Mohan Singh said.