Future Retail Files Fresh Case in Supreme Court Against Amazon Over $3.4 Billion Deal: Report

it must be noted that Amazon had for months in a dispute with Future, and accused the Indian firm of violating contracts when it sold its retail assets to market leader Reliance last year. However, Future Retail denied any wrongdoing.

New Delhi: India’s Future Retail on Saturday has filed a fresh case in Supreme Court against Amazon.com Inc in its latest effort to seek clearance for its $3.4 billion retail assets sale. It must be noted that the apex court had this month dealt a blow to Future Retails when it said an interim decision by a Singapore arbitrator in October 2020 that put its deal with Reliance Industries on hold – following Amazon’s complaint – was valid in India.

During the hearing, the top court had said that Future Retail could not appeal a lower court’s decision against it. However, taking a step further, the retailer is now asking the top court to hear the challenge.

As per a report by news agency Reuters, Future Retail in its over 6,000-page filing has argued that if the deal with Reliance doesn’t go through, it would cause “unimaginable” damage to the group, including possible job losses for 35,575 employees, and put at risk roughly Rs 28,000 crore ($3.81 billion) in bank loans and debentures.

“There is extreme urgency to hear this petition,” Future counsel Yugandhara Pawar Jha said in the Supreme Court filing, which is not public.

It must be noted that Amazon had for months in a dispute with Future, and accused the Indian firm of violating contracts when it sold its retail assets to market leader Reliance last year. Future denies any wrongdoing.

The dispute broke out after Future, India’s second-largest retailer, with more than 1,700 stores, including popular Big Bazaar supermarkets, entered a deal last year to sell its retail businesses to Reliance after COVID-19 hit its operations hard.