Amazon wants Delhi High Court to enforce Emergency Arbitrator under SIAC

International e-commerce giant, Amazon has urged the Delhi High Court to enforce an Emergency Arbitrator (EA) award under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) to restrain the Future Group and Reliance Retail from going forward with their deal. The matter is being heard before Justice JR Midha.

Representing the US-based company, Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium, on Thusday, said the EA has passed interim order whereby all parties were heard and a detailed order was passed. He found he has jurisdiction and that Future Retail was bound by Arbitration. Senior Advocate Darius Khambata, representing Future Retail, raised objections to the maintainability of the petition. He said this is not a section 17 of Arbitration Act and cannot be enforced. “Under section 17, only the final arbitration tribunal can pass the order. What Amazon is seeking to enforce is something else. Whatever order is passed at interim stage is not an order under Section 17.”

Future Retail had approached the NCLT a day after Amazon, on Monday, moved the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction to restrain Future Group in filing any application with regulators to complete its proposed deal with Reliance Retail.

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“If he is aggrieved by the order, he can file an appeal, but without filing an appeal and without moving the tribunal for vacating the order, for a party to continuously resist and say that these proceedings are not binding and they are nullity, then I submit with the utmost respect that the Arbitration Act will become completely meaningless,” Subramanium told the court.

However, the lawyers appearing for Future Group argued that the Singapore Emergency Arbitrator award is not maintainable in India.