Future Retail does not have any contractual rights with Amazon: Future Group lawyers to Delhi HC

New Delhi: Reiterating that the interim order of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) was not binding and enforceable in India, lawyers for Future Group on Thursday argued in the Delhi High Court that Future Retail does not have any contractual rights with Amazon, hence does not need to seek permission from the US giant for any investments.

The US giant has only invested in Future Coupons, a promoter company of Future Retail, they said.

Senior lawyer Harish Salve appearing for Future Retail said that by seeking to be informed of all investments the Amazon is not asserting its investor protection rights but trying to get indirect control over the listed Indian retailer.

When you have passive investment of less than 10 percent, you can’t make an active investment, he said.

“..The degree of Amazon’s control will become enormous.. an American company with less than 10 percent shares.. can it have the right to tell whom I can do business with?,” argued Salve. “(If Reliance wants to invest but) sorry I have to ask Big Brother sitting in America,” he added.

He added that by putting in Rs 1,400 crore Amazon can’t control the large Indian retail group. “We are also big businesses in India,” he said. Salve said that with this investment (Reliance) creditors worth’s Rs 18,000 crore are being protected, who are all Indians and Amazon does not care about them.

He went on to say that Reliance may not be as big as Amazon but it is a muscular company in India. “What prevents Reliance from entering online market. It will then be Amazon vs Reliance,” Salve said.

On the first day of the hearing of a case filed by Future Retail in a bid to stop Amazon from approaching Indian regulatory authorities with the interim order of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), lawyers for the Indian retailer had argued that the SIAC order was not binding and enforceable in India.

Future Group’s lawyers had said the letters that Amazon wrote to the Competition Commission of India and the Securities and Exchange Board of India were designed to put a spanner in and derail the purchase of the Indian group’s assets by Reliance Retail.

Last year, Amazon bought 49% stake in Future Coupons — which owns 7.3% of Future Retail — with an option to buy out the entire holding.