Future Retail files appeal in Delhi High Court against status quo order on Future-Reliance deal


PTI, Feb 3, 2021, 12:16 PM IST

New Delhi: Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Wednesday said it has filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court against the status quo order on its Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance.

On Tuesday, a Delhi High Court bench of Justice J R Midha had directed FRL to maintain status quo in relation to its Rs 24,713-crore deal with Reliance Retail that has been objected to by US-based e-commerce giant, Amazon.

Following the Tuesday directive, FRL had said it would explore legal recourse.

“Further to our letter dated February 2, 2021, please be informed that the company has filed an appeal before Hon’ble High Court of Delhi against the impugned order dated February 2, 2021,” FRL said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Emails sent to Amazon did not elicit a response.

FRL’s scheme of arrangement has already received approval from CCI and no objection from SEBI, following which it had approached NCLT, Mumbai on January 26, 2021. The application is yet to be taken up by the NCLT, FRL had said.

Last month, Amazon had approached the Delhi High Court seeking enforcement of the interim order of the Emergency Arbitrator (EA) at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) that had restrained FRL from going ahead with the deal with Reliance.

Justice J R Midha, on Tuesday, said the court was satisfied that an immediate interim order was required to be passed to protect the rights of Amazon. “Respondents (FRL) and other respondents are directed to maintain status quo as on today at 4:49 PM till pronouncement of the reserved order,” the judge had said.

Amazon has sought to restrain Kishore Biyani-led Future Group from taking any steps to complete the transaction with entities that are a part of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group.

The High Court, which heard the matter for four consecutive days, reserved its order on the main petition. It has also directed all other concerned authorities to maintain status quo in relation to the matters which are in violation of the emergency award and to file status report with regard to the present status within 10 days.

Amazon had dragged Future Group to arbitration at SIAC, arguing that Future violated their contract by entering into the deal with rival Reliance.

On October 25, 2020, an interim award was passed in favour of Amazon with a single-judge bench of V K Rajah barring Future Retail from taking any step to dispose of or encumber its assets or issuing any securities to secure any funding from a restricted party.

After this, the Future Group filed a plea with the Delhi High Court. On December 21, a single-member bench rejected the plea to restrain Amazon from writing to regulatory authorities about the SIAC arbitral order but gave a go-ahead to the regulators to decide over the deal.

The Court had also made several observations indicating that Amazon’s attempt to control FRL through a conflation of agreements Amazon has with an unlisted unit of the Indian company will be violative of the FEMA FDI rules.

Amazon, in its petition, had also sought detention of Future Group founders, including CEO Kishore Biyani, and seizure of their assets as it sought to block the Future-Reliance deal.

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Maharashtra Polls: Eknath Shinde targets Uddhav for `giving up’ Bal Thackeray’s principles for power

Will appear before Lokayukta for questioning in MUDA case, says CM Siddaramaiah

Lies have short life, Cong’s ‘fake’ narrative smashed: Fadnavis

Temple idols found desecrated in Hyderabad, case registered

SC junks plea against quashing of LOC issued to ex-house help of Sushant Singh Rajput

JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal to visit K’taka on Nov 7 to meet farmers protesting Waqf notices

Indian boxer Mandeep Jangra wins WBF’s world title

Related Articles More

CBDT allows tax officials to waive or reduce interest due from assessee

Markets fall in early trade amid unabated foreign fund outflows

New software for fast-tracking project approvals: Karnataka Minister Patil

In-flight passengers can access WiFi services only when allowed, say new rules

SEBI mulls separation of non-regulated activities; ‘cross-default’ definition for debenture trustees

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

Davanagere: Man murdered by relative for insurance money; 4 arrested within 24 hours

Heroin worth Rs 3.5 crore recovered in police raid in Delhi, 2 arrested

Govt clerk found dead in Tahsildar’s chamber, FIR filed against minister’s PA, 2 others

Treated Muslims like fuel for ‘lantern’: Prashant Kishor targets Lalu, asks upper castes to stay away from Nitish

MP Brijesh Chowta urges Kerala CM for strict action against attack on Edneer Swamiji’s vehicle

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.