SC stays sale of Future Group's assets to Reliance

The top court agreed  to Amazon's appeal, overturning a lower court's ruling, and allowed the Company tribunal to continue hearing the case but not allow the sale until further order from the court. The court asked Future Group to submit written statements.

In December last year, the Delhi High Court quashed Future Group's petition seeking its directive restraining Amazon from interfering in the asset sale to Reliance.

Amazon had objected to the sale saying the deal breached agreements Future Group made with the US e commerce giant in 2019. It won an injunction to halt the sale from a Singapore arbitrator that both the entities had agreed to use in case of dispute, added the report.

Future, however, refused to abide by the order, saying it wasn't bound by it, prompting Amazon to approach SEBI.

While Reliance and Future Group dominate the retail market in India, Amazon is competing to ensure a strong presence in the groceries vertical, which is likely to be worth around Rs 54 lakh crore a year by 2024, according data from Forrester Research, a previous media report stated.

The retail sector will grow 46 per cent in the next four years to an annual Rs 95 lakh crore, the data revealed.

Future Group can move the Singapore arbitration tribunal to lift the interim stay it had imposed that has been the basis of Supreme Court's order, the Bloomberg reportsaid.