Informist, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Tuesday expedited hearing in appeal by Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC against an INR-2-bln penalty imposed on it by the Competition Commission of India for suppressing information in the purchase of a 49% stake in a Future group entity in 2019. "Appeal is admitted. Hearing expedited. List for hearing on Jan. 22, 2025," said the court.

The case has its genesis from a deal between Amazon and Future Coupons Pvt. Ltd. in 2019. Amazon had said its investment of INR 14.3 bln in Future Coupons, one of the promoters of Future Retail Ltd., granted it the power to block the sale of Future Retail's assets to certain entities, including Reliance Industries Ltd. In 2020, Future Retail sold its retail, wholesale, and logistical assets to a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd for 247 bln rupees.

The deal between Future Retail and Reliance was almost immediately followed by a legal battle between Amazon and Future Retail over the latter's right to sell its assets. While the case was going on, the company itself got dragged into insolvency by Bank of India.

In 2021, the antitrust watchdog suspended its approval of a deal between Amazon and Future Coupons and imposed a penalty on Amazon for failing to disclose relevant and crucial information on its 2019 investment arrangement with Future Coupons. The competition watchdog order was subsequently upheld by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. Challenging this, Amazon moved the apex court. End

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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