FCPL is the promoter company of
Ltd (FRL). Amazon has opposed the proposal to sell FRL’s assets to Retail, claiming that it has the first right of refusal under the 2019 investment agreement.
The HC’s ruling came a day after the CCI sent a notice to FCPL, saying that it has scheduled hearings from both Amazon and FCPL on January 4. The division bench of the HC was hearing a public interest litigation, filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) alleging that the CCI was “sitting on” the FCPL’s application since March.
In its petition filed in March, the Future Group promoter company had alleged that the US-based ecommerce major of concealing facts and of providing false information to the commission while seeking the approval in 2019.
A CCI lawyer told the court the antitrust body has already scheduled a hearing for January 4 and that it will decide on the outcome of the case after that hearing, according to a press statement by CAIT. However, the court declined the request and directed the CCI to dispose of it within two weeks, CAIT said.
The FCPL-Amazon dispute has bogged down for more than a year Future Group’s plans to sell its assets on a slump sale basis to Reliance Retail for Rs 25,000 crore. The proposed plan has attracted about a dozen legal cases in various courts, as Amazon is contesting the deal arguing its Rs 1,431 crore investment in FCPL mandates FRL to seek consent from the US company before parting with any of the assets.
In June, the CCI issued a show case notice to Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC following the FCPL application.
Amazon’s representatives gave their oral submissions and on June 5. The Seattle-based company also filed its written submissions, according to the November 15 notice of the CCI to FCPL that was reviewed by ET.
“The commission considered the matter in its meeting held on 18th October 2021 and decided to pass an appropriate order in due course,” said the CCI notice addressed to Agarwal Law Associates, the New Delhi-based law firm that is representing FCPL.
Amazon had filed various documents with the CCI and the US firm requested the commission that some of the documents must be treated as confidential to “all other third parties”, according to the CCI notice. However, in November, the CCI directed Amazon to share copies of its responses — including the confidential versions — with FCPL.
Last month, Amazon furnished the CCI with the latest order of an arbitration panel at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre that had upheld its October 2020 interim ruling staying Future Group’s deal to sell its assets to Reliance Retail.
Tuesday’s court ruling is the latest development for the dispute between Amazon and Future Group in the CCI. On Sunday, the independent directors of the listed entity FRL had accused Amazon of submitting information to the CCI that was “contradictory” to the US-based e-tailer’s internal communications regarding its investments into FCPL in 2019.
