Comments
In a case between Future Retail Ltd (FRL) and US e-commerce giant Amazon, the Delhi High Court has found a prima facie case on behalf of FRL. However, rejecting FRL’s plea, it has not granted an injunction against Amazon for writing letters to the regulatory authorities including SEBI and CCI in an attempt to stall the asset sale deal between FRL and Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
In her verdict, Justice Mukta Gutpa said that prima facie , it was also observed that the suit filed by FRL was maintainable, the Emergency Award was valid, and that FRL’s resolution approving the transaction with Reliance was valid.
Also read: SIAC dismisses jurisdictional objections raised by Future Group
Kishore Biyani-owned Future Retail had approached the Delhi High Court on November 7. The country’s ace lawyers were arguing on behalf of all the parties. Senior advocate Harish Salve appeared on behalf of FRL while senior advocate Gopal Subramanium appeared for Amazon.
Both the parties made their submissions on the virtual hearing in front of Justice Gupta. Exactly a month ago, after the last hearing that was held on November 20, Justice Gupta had reserved the verdict.
Also read: Amazon knew about Future deal since June: Reliance Retail to HC
The issue started when Future Retail sold its warehousing and retail businesses to the Mukesh Ambani-owned RIL for ₹24, 713 crore. Last month, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had approved the sale.
Amazon, which holds a 5 per cent stake in Future Group’s arm Future Coupons, filed an arbitration petition in the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in October in an attempt to stall the deal between the two companies.
Also read: Reliance Retail deal: Amazon’s objection a breach of FDI rules, Future tells HC
On October 26, the SIAC passed an interim stay in favour of Amazon. In its submission to the Delhi High Court, FRL had said Amazon was misusing the interim stay and writing letters to the government and statutory authorities. It also accused FRL of insider trading.
According to sources, the losing party is likely to appeal to the higher courts.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.