The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed its single-judge direction to Future Retail Ltd (FRL) and various statutory authorities to maintain the status quo with regard to the Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail in a setback for Jeff Bezos-led e-commerce giant Amazon, which has challenged the transaction. A division Bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing the appeal filed by FRL against the court s order passed last week. The court had said it was satisfied that an immediate interim order was required to be passed to protect the rights of Amazon. On Monday, the division Bench noted that FRL was not a party to an arbitration agreement with Amazon and prima facie the “group of companies” doctrine could not be invoked in the present case as the three agreements Future Retail Shareholding Agreement (SHA), Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) SHA, and FCPL Share Subscription Agreement were distinct in nature, according to law platform Bar & Bench.
Last January, Amazon founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos was in India, holding closed-door meetings with top industry leaders including Mukesh Ambani and Kishore Biyani. He hobnobbed with Bollywood stars, visited the iconic Taj Mahal, flew kites with children and also experienced Indian street food. He even delivered a package to a customer from a kirana store in Mumbai and shared the picture on his Instagram account. A lot has changed since then. In a surprise move, Bezos stepped down as CEO of the e-commerce giant on Tuesday. He would transition to the executive chair of Amazon Board and will stay engaged in important Amazon initiatives. Andy Jassy, who heads the company’s cloud computing platform Amazon Web Services (AWS), is expected to take over the role of CEO in the third quarter of 2021.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Future Retail Ltd (FRL) to maintain the status quo with respect to its $3.4 billion (about Rs 24,700 crore) deal with Reliance Retail. The court said it was satisfied that an immediate interim order was required to be passed to protect the rights of Amazon. The development has come as a temporary relief for Jeff Bezos-led e-commerce giant Amazon, which is battling to thwart the Future group’s asset sale to Reliance. “Hearing Amazon’s plea, the high court has granted an interim relief to Amazon, directing all authorities and parties to maintain the status quo on the deal,” said Salman Waris, managing partner at technology law firm TechLegis Advocates and Solicitors. “The court’s direction effectively means that the deal will be on hold till a final decision in the matter is reached. This was what Amazon had pleaded.”
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