Amazon.com Inc. has challenged a Delhi high court division bench order that allowed Kishore Biyani’s Future Group to proceed with an asset sale deal with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).
Amazon’s petition
“The (Future) group had earlier unequivocally stated that they will continue to take steps to complete the impugned transaction (the ₹24,713 crore deal with RIL).
The greater the progress made towards the completion of the impugned transaction, the harder it will be to unravel it.
Over time, the interests of additional third parties may also become entwined with the impugned transaction and be subsequently compromised.
Further, irreparable harm will be caused to the petitioner (Amazon) .”
Flashback
Amazon agreed to buy a 49% stake in Future Coupons, a part of Future Group, in August 2019 on the condition that Future Group does not forge any alliance with Reliance Industries and 29 other entities without obtaining prior consent from the US e-commerce giant.
On 18 March, Delhi high court’s justice J.R. Midha imposed a monetary penalty on Future Group for breaching the Singapore International Arbitration Centre’s (SIAC’s) October order that restrained Future Group from completing the deal with Reliance Industries.
Justice Midha had also ordered the attachment of Biyani’s assets and served a show-cause on the group for his possible detention.
In an interim order following another petition filed by Amazon earlier, the Supreme Court on 22 February directed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) not to give its final approval on a scheme of amalgamation (a part of the deal with RIL) until the top court gives its final verdict.
In the latest petition, Amazon said the division bench does not have the authority to stay the 18 March single judge’s order and pass another order on the matter until the Supreme Court gives its verdict.
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