Future Retail moves HC to quash Amazon’s arbitration proceedings

Future Retail has moved a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking to quash Amazon’s arbitration proceedings against the Kishore Biyani-led company for signing the ₹24,000-crore merger deal with Reliance Industries.

This comes after the Competition Commission of India withdrew its approval of a 2019 deal between Amazon and Future Coupons.

Future Retail’s independent directors had earlier written to the CCI to cancel the approval for the 2019 deal between Amazon and Future Coupons on the grounds that Amazon had “concealed facts” at the time of seeking approval for its investment. This deal, in which Amazon had invested ₹1,431 crore in Future Coupons Private Limited, is at the centre of the ongoing dispute between Amazon and Future Retail.

Equity sale deal

Under the agreement, Amazon had barred Future group from getting into any equity sale deal with Reliance.

Since the Future-Reliance deal was announced in 2020, Amazon has been using the 2019 agreement to block the deal. The American company has also won arbitral award on the basis of this agreement.

Now, armed with CCI’s order nullifying Amazon's investments in Future Coupons, the Kishore Biyani-led Future group has filed a new appeal with Delhi High Court to quash the ongoing proceedings against the Future-Reliance deal.

In its prayer to the Delhi High Court, Future Retail urged the court to issue an order that continuation of the arbitration proceedings in the Singapore arbitration tribunal is contrary to law. A copy of the petition was reviewed by BusinessLine .

Future Retail further said that Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) didn’t have a jurisdiction to hold an arbitration in the said matter further to the CCI order.

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