[BREAKING] Amazon-Future Group dispute: Delhi High Court stays proceedings before Singapore Tribunal

In a major relief to Kishore Biyani and his Future Group, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the arbitration proceedings in relation to its 2019 deal with Amazon before the Singapore Tribunal [Future Retail Limited v. Amazon.com NV Investment Holding LLC and Ors]..A Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh also stayed the order of the single-judge which had refused to intervene in the matter and dismissed the pleas filed by the two subsidiaries of the Future Group yesterday.The Division Bench said that looking at the facts and circumstances of the case as well as the order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), there was a prima facie case in favour of the Future Group and an irreparable loss would be caused to them if the proceedings are not stayed.The Court has also issued notice to Amazon and said that the stay on arbitration proceedings as well as the single-judge's order will remain in force till the next date of hearing, which is scheduled on February 1. It said that it would deal with the arguments raised by the respondents, including on the maintainability of the appeals, on the returnable date. .An arbitration tribunal in Singapore has been hearing Amazon's case against Future Group related to the 2019 deal between the two companies. While hearing this case, the tribunal had passed an interim order stalling the sale of Future Retail's assets to Reliance Industries.Future Retail had petitioned the Tribunal arguing that continuing proceedings there would be illegal in view of the CCI ruling against Amazon.The CCI had suspended the clearance for the deal, stating that Amazon had failed to notify it about certain crucial details of its acquisition of a 49 per cent stake in Future, as required under Section 6(2) of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act). It had, therefore, also imposed of a penalty of ₹202 crore on Amazon.After the tribunal refused to consider the request before starting a final hearing, the Future Group moved the Delhi High Court. .However, Justice Amit Bansal dismissed the plea holding that there is no evidence to suggest that the tribunal denied equal opportunity to Future Group or that it has not been accommodating towards their requests. “No exceptional circumstances or perversity have been demonstrated/made out in the petitions or during the hearing to warrant the exercise of jurisdiction by this Court under Article 227 of the Constitution of India,” Justice Bansal ruled. .After the single-judge dismissed the pleas filed by the Future Group companies, appeals were filed before the Division Bench..On Wednesday, Amazon argued that the appeals were not maintainable since the order passed by the single-judge was under Article 227 of the Constitution, wherein no intra-court appeal lies. Amazon's counsel also told the Court they would challenge the CCI's order very soon.