Delhi High Court to hear Future Group plea to quash Amazon arbitration before Singapore tribunal

The Delhi High Court on Monday agreed to hear Future Group’s petition seeking the termination of Amazon's case before an arbitral tribunal in Singapore..The plea was mentioned by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi before a Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh..Rohatgi submitted that he had filed a petition on behalf of Future Coupons Limited (FCPL) and that there was “immense urgency” in the matter. He added that the Registry has cleared the petition. The Court tagged the matter with another case dealing with the same dispute. The petitions are likely to be taken up for hearing at 4.30 pm today. .The move comes after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) recently suspended its clearance given to Amazon’s 2019 deal with Future. The Commission had imposed a fine of ₹202 crore on the American e-commerce giant for allegedly hiding facts and making false statements while seeking regulatory approvals..According to Bloomberg, Future Retail had petitioned the arbitral tribunal in Singapore arguing that continuing proceedings there would be illegal in view of the CCI ruling against Amazon. The Tribunal, however, refused to consider the request before starting a final hearing, prompting the Future Group to move the Delhi High Court..The present petition argues that the arbitration proceedings before the Singapore Tribunal has no legal validity, as the CCI has suspended approval for the 2019 deal. .If successful, the plea would pave the way for the Future Group to sell its assets to Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited..The Amazon-Future Group deal has seen several legal battles as a result of which the sale of Future’s assets to Reliance has been stalled.Last month, Amazon had moved the Delhi High Court challenging the probe initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the deal. The company had termed the investigation a “fishing and roving” inquiry, adding that the ED had sought details of privileged legal advice and opinions from Amazon and other information not connected with the Future group deal..Amazon moves Delhi High Court against ED probe into Future Group deal