SC issues notices to CCI and Future Group on Amazon plea

6 Sep 2022 , 08:03 AM

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment upholding the decision to maintain the share subscription agreement (SSA) between Amazon and Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) in abeyance was challenged by Amazon in a case that was brought before the Supreme Court on Monday.

Future Group and the Competition Commission of India were given notice by a panel of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Bela M. Trivedi, who also set the date for a thorough hearing on September 19.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which challenged Amazon’s merger with the Future group, was also given notice by the top court, and it was requested that all parties provide brief remarks within a week.

Amazon filed a petition with the Supreme Court in July contesting the NCLAT ruling.

On June 13, the NCLAT found that Amazon had not disclosed the deal in a fair, honest, and forthright manner. The tribunal maintained the CCI’s decision on the alleged non-disclosures by Amazon and ordered the company to pay a fine of Rs200 crore.

The CCI fined Amazon Rs200 crore and put the e-agreement tailers with Future Coupons, a promoter company of the group’s publicly traded subsidiary Future Retail Ltd, on hold while it sought more information in December of last year.

The tribunal fully concurred with the CCI that Amazon provided only minimal disclosures on the purchase of strategic rights and interests in Future Retail Ltd.

The dispute in court between Future Group and Amazon is related to the Rs24,713 crore sale of Future’s retail businesses to Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. Reliance Industries has cancelled the agreement between Future Retail and Reliance Retail.

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