The Delhi High Court is clearly stating that Future Retail’s statement can be upheld and that the ruling is neither void nor against the law. What does this explain for the Amazon and Future Retail-Reliance deal?
What I see will be a long battle and ultimately it will be decided only by the Supreme Court.
How will this affect the proposed Future-Reliance settlement? How do you see the Delhi High Court verdict affect the proposed transactions?
I think this will go on for a few more months and the matter will eventually go to the Supreme Court. Even this verdict of the Delhi High Court will be challenged in the High Court by both parties if they feel it goes against them and will delay the whole deal. But there will definitely be a delay. There is no way this deal will be carried out immediately.
What will happen is that now with the other agencies that will be brought in by the Delhi High Court, there will be an investigation and we will have to wait for their ruling and that will go back to the Delhi High Court and possibly again. to the Supreme Court. I don’t see anything happening even in late 2021!
Who is the winner in this case or is there no clear winner?
There is no clear winner at all and the only thing is that the deal remains in effect. Obviously one of them will come out the winner and I think the Reliance Group and the Future Group will ultimately prevail. But this will go on for at least another nine months or so before we see a clear verdict or clear decision.
Mr. Harish Salve, while opposing Amazon, has invoked statements such as this is a modern East India Company. It has invoked nationalism, while Amazon has said that if it is going to do business in India, it needs a policy.
I was told that Future Group believes that the Amazon contract is with a different company and therefore these arbitration procedures are invalid or do not apply to the company that has now reached an agreement with Reliance. It is one of the debatable questions if that arbitration has any validity and if it will apply to the future company that has entered into the deal with Reliance because Amazon’s agreement is with another Future company and, therefore, there should be no interference in this sense. The deal refers to a different future company.
Why do you think the deal is not possible even by the end of 2021?
It is because the regulators will have to be contacted, each will give his own verdict that he himself can be challenged in court as well. So I don’t think it will be possible in 2021. I can optimistically say it can happen, but in 2021, I don’t see it happening at all.
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