[BREAKING] Delhi High Court dismisses Future Group plea for termination of arbitration initiated by Amazon at SIAC

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by the Future Group seeking termination of the arbitration proceedings initiated by Amazon before Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). .Single-judge Justice C Hari Shankar also dismissed Future's application challenging the order of the tribunal permitting Amazon's request to amend arbitration claim..The court said that the orders passed by the tribunal are interlocutory orders and therefore it would not be inappropriate for the court to interfere with them. "Reserving liberty with both sides to urge the contentions advanced in these petitions at the appropriate stage, therefore, these petitions are dismissed as not maintainable," the court ordered. .The court added that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the controversy between the parties and that the arbitral proceedings may continue unimpeded and uninfluenced by any observation contained in the present judgment..The arbitration relates to a 2019 deal of Amazon acquiring a 49% stake in Future Coupons Private Limited (FCPL) and is one of the several legal disputes the companies are embroiled in.Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) has been hearing the arbitration between Amazon and Future Group.On June 28 this year, the tribunal rejected two applications filed by the Future Group seeking termination of the proceedings..In its plea, the Kishore Biyani led Future Group argued that in December 2021, the Competition Commission of India (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.The tribunal order failed to appreciate that CCI order is a legal barrier to continuation of arbitration proceedings, the plea stated. .Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Dayan Krishnan along with advocates Rishi Agrawala, Pranjit Bhattacharya, Sanjeevi Sheshadri and Sukrith Sethi appeared for Future Coupons.Advocates Smarika Singh, Anoop Rawat, Saurav Panda, Yashna Mehta, Saifur Rahman Faridi and Mohana Nijhawan.Amazon was represented through Senior Advocates Gopal Subramanium, Rajiv Nayar, Amit Sibal and Nakul Dewan along with advocates Anand S Pathak, Amit K Mishra, Shashank Gautam, Vijay Purohit, Sreemoyee Deb, Mohit Singh, Devna Arora, Anubhuti Mishra, Shivam Pandey, Samridhi Hota, Didon Misri, Pratik Jhaveri, Nikita Bangera, Faizan Mithiwala, Vijayendra Pratap Singh, Rachit Bahl, Roopali Singh, Abhijnan Jha, Priyank Ladoia, Tanmay Sharma, Chetan Chawla and Abhisar Vidyarthi..[Read Order].Amazon v. Future: The legal battle so far