New Delhi: Future Retail Ltd (FRL) has filed a caveat in the Delhi High Court following the Singapore arbitration court’s interim stay order on the deal with Reliance Retail Ventures.
In its plea filed through advocate Rishi Agarwala, the retail group has urged the high court that no order should be passed in the present matter without hearing its stand.
“Let no order of any kind be passed in OMP (1) (COMM) or any other petition and application which may be filed by the petitioners/caveatee (Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC) against the respondent/caveator – Future Retail Limited, without due notice under Section 148-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,” read the caveat.
A caveat, which is filed under section 148A of the Code of Civil Procedure, is a precautionary measure taken by a person who holds strong fear or uneasiness that some or the other case against him/her is going to be filed in the court of law.
An arbitration court in Singapore had directed a temporary stay on the Future Retail’s buyout by RIL-led Reliance Retail.
Earlier, Future group had urged the Indian stock exchanges, the BSE and the NSE, to process its application for the deal with Reliance Retail, as the arbitrator’s order does not restrict market regulator SEBI or the exchanges from considering and approving the scheme.
In a regulatory filing, FRL said that the arbitrator’s order accepted Amazon’s contention that two separate shareholder agreements, one between Amazon and FRL’s promoters (to which FRL is not a party) and another between FRL and its promoter (to which Amazon is not a party) constitute one single integrated transaction and that by such a composite transaction, Amazon has an interest in and rights against FRL.
“This contention raised by Amazon is entirely misconceived,” it had said.
FRL said that at best Amazon’s claims are a contractual dispute between Amazon and the promoters of FRL, and Amazon has already initiated arbitration for the same.
