Billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala questioned the sanctity of recent merger deal struck between Fortis Healthcare and Manipal Hospitals and said the existing Fortis board is not fit to make the decision. What is the sanctity of a deal approved by a board of directors appointed by a group of shareholders who are no longer shareholders of the company.The Economic Times reported quoting Jhunjhunwala on Wednesday. Jhunjhunwala told the paper that the board does not have the power to do the deal. I think the stage where the deal will need to be voted upon will not come at all,he added. Jhunjhunwala said the the hospital chain should be sold through a fair process that allows all interested parties to bid. Jhunjhunwala, who holds less than 1 percent stake in the company, said he is in touch with other minority shareholders. The statement of Jhunjhunwala assumes prominence at a time when East Bridge Capital is trying to gather other minority investors to challenge the Fortis-Manipal Hospitals deal, as it feels the Fortis valuation is too low. East Bridge Capital raised its stake to 9.73 percent. This gave the firm additional voting rights as well. Fortis strongly disagreed with Jhunjhunwalas statement that the deal was not fair. The current approval of the board is an outcome of a process of due diligence for more than a year and has been approved as optimal and definitive deal in hand, the company said. Fortis and Manipal have told Moneycontrol earlier that they are reaching out to investors and trying to explain them the rationale behind the deal and the valuation. Fortis said it did not receive any formal communication till date from minority shareholders with regard to the composition of the board that approved the deal. The company said it will secure in principle approval of shareholders through a postal-ballot with e-voting facility and not an extraordinary general meeting.