New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday will hear submissions from US e-commerce giant Amazon, which is seeking injunctive relief to ensure Future Retail Limited’s (FRL) assets, including “Big Bazaar stores,” are not disposed of until it is closed. dispute over its merger with Reliance Retail is decided by an arbitration tribunal.
A bench made up of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Judges Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, who had heard partial arguments over Amazon’s plea on April 1, has posted the case before the submissions are closed on April 4.
The bank took note of comments from both parties, Amazon and Future Group, that they have no objection to the resumption of the arbitration proceeding and said as far as “the first matter of proceeding with the arbitration, you have both agreed” .
“You’re both filing a little memo so we can record it and the SLP can be removed. The other aspect is this IA, which is about non-disposal of property,” it had said.
The court also questioned whether it could take an interim measure that would prohibit FRL from disposing of its assets until the arbitral tribunal’s ruling, since no landlord of “Big Bazaar shops” was present as a party to her.
“If tenants or landlords are not before us, how can the court issue an injunction forbidding them to take possession of (stores),” it had said.
At the outset, senior attorney Gopal Subramanium, acting for the US firm, said there is no disagreement between Amazon and Future Group regarding the resumption of arbitration proceedings.
“But there can be no sudden transfer of assets,” Mr Subramanium had said, adding that the US company needs an interim injunction “against disposal of the assets in favor of another party and the assets must remain with FRL and operate with FRL until the matter is resolved by the arbitral tribunal”.
He had said more than 800 FRL stores had been evicted and taken over by the Reliance group.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for FRL, had said there are about 374 stores with the group and it won’t give them to anyone alone unless some landlords throw them away.
“My bank accounts are frozen and I can’t pay the rent. Everyone is hoping that if the settlement goes through, Reliance will come in and everyone will get the money,” he had said, adding that there is no money to pay the rent and furthermore, if When the lending banks come into the picture, the IBC (Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code) comes into play.
Amazon had apprehended the “disappearance” of assets and requested an interim injunction from the highest court to ensure the preservation of FRL’s assets, in addition to resuming arbitration over FRL’s merger agreement with Reliance Retail.
The bank had learned of the US company’s allegations that the “applecart was upset” by its rivals and asked the Future Group companies – FRL and Future Coupons Limited (FCPL) – to respond to Amazon’s mid-term plea.
Amazon and Future Group are engaged in a multi-forum process over the issue of FRL’s Rs 24,500 crore merger agreement with Reliance Retail Limited after US e-commerce giant dragged FRL into arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Center in October 2020.
Amazon claims that as many as 600 FRL stores were taken away by Reliance on March 3.
The plea was fiercely contested by Future Group’s lawyers on Tuesday.
Amazon has told the Supreme Court that it not only wants the arbitration proceedings to resume, but also wants an injunction so that FRL’s assets are there for it if it wins the arbitration because the “apple cart was disrupted.”
The court hears Amazon’s appeal against the January 5 order of the Delhi Supreme Court, which has suspended the arbitral tribunal proceedings over Future Retail’s merger agreement with Reliance Retail.
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