New Delhi: US-based e-commerce giant Amazon heaved a sigh of relief as the Supreme Court on Friday morning ruled in the Amazon-Future-Reliance case, ruling in Amazon’s favor, saying that Singapore’s Emergency Arbitrator Award has swayed Future Retail Ltd. FRL) stopped. It is enforceable in Indian law to pursue its merger deal with Reliance Retail.
A two-judge bench of Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and BR Gavai read in the judgment that appeals filed by multi-nationals are permissible. The apex court bench said, “We have framed and answered two questions as the decision of the emergency arbitrator is sound and can be enforced under section 17(2). Appeal is permissible.”
The controversy centered around Future’s decision to sell its retail, wholesale and other businesses to Reliance for Rs 24,713 crore, which includes debt. In February this year, billionaire Jeff Bezos-led Amazon filed a legal case in the Supreme Court against its partner Future Group for selling retail assets worth Rs 24,713 crore to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail.
Amazon had challenged the Delhi High Court order, which had stayed the implementation of the status quo directive passed by a single judge of the High Court for the Future-Reliance deal.
The US e-commerce giant had argued in the Delhi High Court that the arbitrator’s decision suspending the Future-Reliance deal in October was enforceable.
Earlier, while a single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court had ruled in favor of Amazon – effectively blocking the deal, that decision was later overturned by a two-judge bench.
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