Greeva Garg –
The Supreme Court of India has reserved its judgment on e-commerce giant Amazon’s plea against the Delhi High Court’s stay order in the matter of Future Retail Ltd. (FRL) and Reliance Retail merger deal.
The Delhi High Court stayed the previous order directing the attachment of properties of Future Group companies and Kishore Biyani in relation to the Future-Reliance deal.
The question regarding the validity of a Singapore-based Emergency Arbitrator (EA) award, which has restrained Future Retail Limited from going ahead with the Rs. 24,713 crore merger with Reliance Retail, as per Indian laws arose.
“It is evident that the Single Judge order to maintain status quo was directed for the limited purpose of protecting the substratum of the dispute till a detailed order was issued. However, the High Court, instead of waiting for a detailed order, has issued the interim order [February 8] staying the operation, implementation and execution of the Single Judge order without giving any reasons,” Amazon contended in its petition.
The division bench comprising Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice BR Gavai reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments in Amazon’s plea.
“We will decide whether EA award falls under section 17 (1) which deals with the interim award by an arbitral tribunal of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. And if yes, then whether it can be enforced under section 17 (2) of the Act,” the bench observed.
Hearing arguments of various Senior counsels representing the involved parties, the Supreme Court has finally pronounced a verdict and closed down the matter.
Read more: Battle of the Titans: A Deep Dive into the Amazon Vs Future & Reliance Case