The US department of justice (DoJ) allegation that Indian pharma major Ranbaxy may be indulging in adulteration could be a case of misplaced presumption according to the company, which says it will furnish all the required audits in a month?s time, according to a reply filed in court on Monday.

Ranbaxy says it has been assured by the DoJ that the motion initiated at the District Court of Maryland would be withdrawn once all the audits conducted by Parexel?a consulting firm headed by former FDA inspector Ronald Tetzlaff?are produced.

In its response, the pharma major argued that the DoJ could be under the false impression that the voluntary audits conducted by Parexel contain some ?deep problems at the company?. Suspicions may have arisen from September 2007 arguments in the case, wherein Ranbaxy asserted privilege protection for some audits, for which

it had apparently paid ?millions of dollars?.

According to the filing, Ranbaxy had already informed the DoJ at the time the motion was filed that it is ready to waive its privileges regarding all audits conducted by Parexel, thereby making it possible for DoJ to access all relevant information, despite believing that parts of the work performed by Parexel is protected by attorney-client and work product privileges.

In its response, Ranbaxy said that after internal discussions it had by the beginning July arrived at the decision that it would open its audits to scrutiny by DoJ.

On July 3, when the DoJ informed the company of its decision to go to court, Ranbaxy had immediately communicated its decision to waive its privileges on the audit by Parexel. The company also refuted all adulteration charges made by DoJ, in its reply.

The DoJ has alleged that Ranbaxy used ingredients from unapproved sources at its Paonta Sahib plant, fabricated in-house test data to meet FDA standards, and tried to conceal information from FDA inspectors. Ranbaxy shares plummeted for the second day in a row on the BSE, losing over 14% on Tuesday. They ended the day at Rs 409.25, shedding Rs 66.65 from its previous close.

Meanwhile, Ranbaxy shareholders approved allotment of over 7 crore securities on a preferential basis to Daiichi Sankyo. Last month, Ranbaxy had entered into a share purchase agreement with the Japanese drugmaker to sell the promoters? entire 34.8% stake for Rs 9,576.14 crore.