Not to be left off a deal easily, Amazon Inc has requested the High Court in New Delhi to block Future Group and Reliance Retails’s $3.4 billion deal. In a court filining, the global e-commerce giant has also called for the Future Group’s CEO to be detained.
Amazon argued in its court filing, as per Reuters, that Future has “deliberately” disobeyed the arbitrator’s order without challenging it. The global online retailer asked the High Court in New Delhi to enforce the decision of a Singapore arbitrator, which Amazon and Future had agreed to use in case of disputes.
The US group’s latest court move comes after Indian stock exchanges, last week, gave the go ahead to the Future-RIL deal after communicating with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), India’s markets regulator. In its argument, Amazon Inc said Future should not rely on any regulatory approval it has received, in light of the arbitrator’s injunction.
Any violation of the arbitrator order invites the “same consequences” as a violation of an Indian court order would, the global giant argued. It also urged the court to detain Future Group CEO Kishore Biyani and some other respondents in the case, in a civil prison. Reuters said Amazon had also asked the court to attach assets of Biyani to the case so they can’t be disposed of.
Also Read: SEBI gives nod to Future Group and Reliance Retail deal
In a statement to India’s BSE and NSE stock exchanges, Future said it has been informed by Amazon Inc lawyers about the court filing. The Indian company said it would defend the case. The international company further argued that Future breached some pre-existing clauses by entering into a deal with Reliance. However, the Indian group has maintained the arbitrator’s order is not binding and needs to be ratified by an Indian court.
The dispute between the global giant and the Indian company centres around the latter’s decision in August 2020 to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and some other businesses to Reliance for $3.38 billion, including debt.
