India’s High Court Dismissed Arbitration In Amazon Case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, January 4, dismissed pleas by Future Group companies to direct the arbitration tribunal adjudicating on Amazon’s objections against their deal with Reliance, to decide on their termination applications first before continuing with the arbitration proceedings.

Justice Amit Bansal noted the grievance of the Future Group was that in terms of the December 2021 orders of the arbitral tribunal, no date had been fixed for a hearing on their termination applications.

“The said grievance… stands redressed by the subsequent email dated January 1, 2022 of the Arbitral Tribunal in terms of which the date of January 8, 2022 has been fixed for hearing on the termination applications,” he said.

Future Coupons and Future Retail had also contended the Tribunal was continuing with hearings in respect of expert witnesses, while deferring those on the termination application.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing FCPL, argued that the hearing of the termination applications should have taken priority over the hearings of the expert witnesses as the said applications go to the very root of the matter and the arbitration proceedings would not survive if the applications filed on behalf of his client were allowed.

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