INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Amazon has invested $6.5 billion in India.New Delhi:
United States retail giant Amazon and India's Future Group
have been locked in a legal battle for more than a year now
The stand-off has halted Future's Rs 24,500 crore ($3.4 billion) deal with Reliance Industries
Adding more twists, Amazon has filed fresh legal challenges in its long-running dispute with Future after the antitrust agency Competition
Commission of India (CCI) suspended a 2019 deal between the two sides, news agency Reuters reported citing sources
According to the report, Amazon has filed an appeal against the CCI suspension decision at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal
Separately, the United States retail major has also filed a challenge in the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court decision, which
stated that the arbitration proceedings must remain on hold until February 1 in light of the antitrust suspension of the deal
It all started in 2019 when Amazon and Future had become business partners when the United States company invested $200 million
in a gift voucher unit -- Future Coupons -- of the Indian group
That deal, Amazon argues, came with certain non-compete clauses that prohibited Future from selling retail assets to certain rivals,
The deal also included clauses for settlement of any disputes under rules laid down by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.But in
2020, Future, which was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, decided to sell assets to Reliance.Amazon then approached Singapore arbitrators
and successfully stopped the sale
Both parties have also challenged each other with lawsuits in Indian courts.The potential Future-Reliance deal "destroys" the latter
prospect, the United States company has alleged
However, Future denies any wrongdoing, saying Amazon is illegally seeking to exert control on Future's retail business
Future Retail - the group's flagship retail arm - says it faces liquidation and its more than 27,000 employees can become jobless if the
Reliance deal fails.RIL has operations including 1,100 supermarkets, while Future has more than 1,500
The Future deal will boost the retail footprint of Reliance.For its part, Amazon has invested $6.5 billion in India.The CCI got involved
when Future complained to the antitrust agency that Amazon was making incorrect and contradictory submissions about the intent of the 2019
deal.In December last year, the CCI suspended its approval of the 2019 deal with Future, saying there was "a deliberate design on the part
of Amazon to suppress the actual scope" of the deal and its interest in Future's retail businesses.While Amazon contends the CCI acted
beyond its powers, Future maintains the United States company no longer has any right to assert its claims as the 2019 deal now lacks
regulatory approval.The arbitration has since been on hold, but Amazon has appealed the decisions in Indian courts
The courts are yet to hear the matter.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is
published from a syndicated feed.)
