In a new development in the tussle over Future Retail, Amazon has moved the Supreme Court for allowing arbitration proceedings to restart at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
Representing Amazon NV Investment Holding LLC, senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam on Thursday pointed out how Future Group has tried to stall the proceedings.
Subramaniam said the Future Group has filed a petition under Article 227 before the Delhi HC challenging the tribunal’s decision of the tribunal.
He emphasised that “the arbitration proceedings should in no way be postponed.”
The case pertains to Amazon’s investment in Future Coupons. The bitter feud between Future and Amazon has been going on for over a year.
The tribunal, which had ruled in favour of a continuation of the proceedings, is going for the final hearing on November 28.
Hearing the case, CJI Chandrachud noted that the Future Group has filed more than 200 petitions to stall the proceedings.
“You cannot keep stultifying the proceedings before the arbitral tribunal and this is just a ploy to delay the proceedings…All ploys by well heeled parties to delay the arbitration…Your client is trying to be too clever by half… As a Chief Justice of this court I am concerned.” the CJI told Future Group’s counsel.
“This is an international arbitration… Is this how the courts of this country will bring repute to the process? Global India must maintain the sanctity of international arbitral proceedings…We will not let the arbitration process be stultified,” he observed.
The bench said that it won’t allow the arbitration process to be stultified and that the matter will be listed next Friday.
It may be recalled here that the Future Group had approached SAIC with a plea to terminate the arbitration proceedings. The SAIC, in June 28, had rejected this plea.
Future subsequently moved the Delhi HC against SIAC’s move.
The arbitration proceedings at SAIC had started in October 2020, following Future’s proposal to sell its retail, wholesale & logistics assets to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance for Rs 24,713 crore.
The legal battle started once Future’s sale plan was made public, with Amazon opposing the deal with RIL on the ground that the Rs 1,400 crore in had invested in Future Coupons (a promoter of Future Retail) “does not allow Future to sell retail assets to certain companies, including Reliance.”