Future-Amazon: Supreme Court to hear on Feb 8 Amazon plea against Delhi HC order staying arbitration before Singapore tribunal

The Supreme Court will hear on February 8 the plea by US tech giant Amazon challenging the Delhi High Court order which had stayed the ongoing arbitration proceedings against Future Group related to 2019 deal between the two companies..The matter was mentioned by Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium on behalf of Amazon, before Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana. "We are here against the Delhi High Court division bench order where the arbitral tribunal proceeding was injuncted. Because of that arbitral tribunal proceeding are not beginning," he said."List next Tuesday," the CJI replied..Amazon's acquisition of a 49 percent stake in Future Coupons Private Limited (FCPL) has been embroiled in many legal disputes in the recent past.An arbitration tribunal in Singapore has been hearing Amazon's case against Future Group related to the 2019 deal between the two companies. While hearing this case, the tribunal had passed an interim order stalling the sale of Future Retail's assets to Reliance Industries.Last month, the CCI had suspended the clearance for the deal, stating that Amazon had failed to notify it about certain crucial details of its acquisition as required under Section 6(2) of the Competition Act, 2002. It had, therefore, also imposed a penalty of ₹202 crore on Amazon.Based on the CCI order, Future Group moved the Delhi High Court seeking stay on the arbitration proceedings before the Singapore tribunal.While the pleas were dismissed by a single-judge, the Division Bench stayed the proceedings before the Singapore tribunal. The Bench had cited the CCI order as one of the reasons for doing so, while adding that irreparable loss would be caused to the Future Group if proceedings are not stayed.The Division Bench had also issued notice to Amazon and listed the case for further hearing on February 1..Amazon then moved the top court by way of the present plea against the Delhi High Court's interim order.