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Amazon filed a petition in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday seeking clarification on the scope of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) investigations into alleged foreign exchange violations by the company, ahead of its 2019 deal to acquire a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Pvt Ltd.
It alleged that the ED was asking confidential information related to the company's business.
Confidential information
According to sources, in its filing, Amazon said the ED is expanding the scope of its investigations by seeking privileged and confidential legal advice it received in the ordinary course of business since it started marketplace operations and that such requests aren’t related to the probe agency’s investigation into the Future-Amazon deal.
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The e-commerce giant has also said that seeking such information goes against the accepted judicial norms. In addition, Amazon also sought the Delhi High Court’s advice on the rationale behind ED’s summons to its executives, who aren’t connected to or aren't aware of the Future-Amazon transaction, to testify in person.
According to a company source, “We want the court to step in here because we are unsure of the way the investigation should be. We are asked for information, that, according to us, does not fall under the purview of the deal that happened with Future Coupons.”
The petition will come up for hearing on Thursday. Amazon did not respond to queries sent by BusinessLine .
In 2019, Amazon invested ₹1,400 crore in Future Coupons. According to Amazon, it had an agreement that Future Retail could sell its assets to restricted parties. In March last year, Kishore Biyani, promoter of Future Group had to pledge more shares as its stock prices started dipping and the company owed monies to bankers.
Post that, Biyani sold Future Retail’s assets to Reliance for ₹24,713 crore. According to Amazon, this was a violation of its deal. It dragged Biyani, and his companies Future Coupons and Future Retail to arbitration in the Singapore Tribunal which passed an order in favour of Amazon. It went on to implement the said order in Indian courts where the matter is now sub judice .
Alongside, Future Coupons filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) stating that it wasn’t aware of Amazon’s intentions for investments in Future Retail. Recently, CCI has passed an order, and put its deal with Future Coupons in abeyance.
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