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The Delhi High Court on Thursday maintained its position in the Amazon versus Future Group case and told Future Retail not to take further action on its ₹24,713-crore Reliance deal. The single-judge bench today held that Future Retail "wilfully violated Singapore Arbitrator's order."
The High Court directed attachment of properties of Kishore Biyani and others related to Future Group. The court directed the Future Group and its directors to deposit ₹20 lakh in PM's Relief Fund for providing COVID-19 vaccines to senior citizens of Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.
Delhi High Court also directed Biyani and others to be present before it on April 28. The order also called for the attachment of the Future Group founder and asked for an affidavit to be produced detailing the same. The Court asked Biyani and others to show cause as to why they be not detained for 3 months under civil prison for violating emergency arbitrator's order.
The court also rejected Future Group’s argument that EA was a nullity and asked Future to place on record all actions taken since October 25, 2020, in furtherance of the deal. The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) had pronounced its EA on October 25 last year.
The debt-ridden Future Group had planned to sell off its retail, logistics and warehousing businesses to Reliance Retail in a much-needed reprieve to Biyani. The US-based e-commerce giant Amazon, in its petition earlier had urged Delhi HC to take action against Future Group for going ahead with its deal to sell its retail assets to Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) despite EA order.
Singapore's Arbitration Court had ruled against the Future-Reliance deal after Amazon petitioned that it was not consulted on the same in violation of its earlier signed by Future Coupons and the global e-commerce giant in 2019.
Amazon bought 49% stake in Future Coupons, the promoter entity of FRL, for Rs Rs 2,000-crore in 2019. This deal also gave the US e-commerce giant a 'call' option allowing it to acquire all or part of the promoter's shareholding in FRL. Future Coupons holds a 7.3% stake in FRL.
FRL, Future Coupons and Reliance had contested Amazon's claim in Delhi HC, that it indirectly invested in FRL by investing in FCL -- was accepted then it would amount to a violation of Indian foreign direct investment laws which permit only 10 per cent investment by a foreign entity in the multi-brand retail sector.
Source: livemint.com, timesnownews.com
Written by Siddhant Sharma
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