Amazon wanted to destroy us, they destroyed us: Future Retail to Supreme Court
Highlight
- Future Retail Ltd told the Supreme Court that today no one wants to do business with the company
- The company owes thousands of crores of rent to the landlords
- The Future Group company also claimed that Amazon destroyed the retail company.
Future Retail Ltd (FRL) on Friday told the Supreme Court that no one wants to do business with it today as Section 7 of the IBC can come any day, and the company owes thousands of crores of rent to landlords, saying That Amazon didn’t get Future Retail, it destroyed the company.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Future Retail, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana that Reliance has entered into a settlement with the landlords, and Future Retail owes Rs 3,000 crore in rent. He said once it went into Section 7 of the IBC, it would all be gone, and no one wanted to do business with it, because Section 7 could come any day.
Salve said that Amazon destroyed his client’s company for Rs 1,400 crore. “They didn’t get Future Retail, they destroyed Future Retail,” he argued, arguing that Big Bazaar is gone and all the assets too. “All my accounts have been frozen, no one wants to touch us… After states imposed lockdown, the future retail cash flow has worsened… hanging by a thread,” he said.
Salve was referring to the lawsuit that Amazon launched to block an asset sale deal worth over Rs 24,000 crore between Reliance Industries’ subsidiary Future Retail and Reliance Retail.
Senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, representing Amazon, said at the beginning of the hearing that as far as resumption of arbitration is concerned, it appears that both the parties have found common ground, and they are interested in resuming keep.
However, he strongly opposed the sudden handover of Future Retail Assets.
Quoting a prayer in Amazon’s application, Subramaniam opposed the segregation of Future Retail Assets, saying: “There cannot be a magic switch… Retail stores of the future must live with it; operated by FRL unless The matter is not resolved by the arbitrator. Tribunal.”
Citing the accounts of Future Retail, he submitted that in his own annual return he said he had enough money to pay all the rent and told the bank that he would be in a position to pay his rent. Huh. On Future’s claim that he does not have money to pay the rent of the shops, Subramaniam said, “It is just a smokescreen.”
Another counsel for Amazon, senior advocate Aspi Chinoy, submitted that the transfer of shops is an act of collusion and the counter filed by the FRL establishes that the transfer of shops to MDA Group was a collusion and consensual act. “Out of these 800 leases are handed over to the MDA group and as lessees, they allow the same FRL to be the licensee…is it possible without collusion…I have read about such cooperative lessees in India I haven’t heard of it,” said Chinoy.
A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli said: “If the landlords are not before us, how can the court order them to stop taking possession.”
Salve said his customer’s bank accounts are frozen and “everyone is hoping that if Reliance comes through with the plan, everyone will get money and that’s the hard reality where Amazon got us”.
To this, the Chief Justice asked: “What do you want to say that 835 stores people asked you to vacate and you vacated, and these stores were leased out by the owners themselves to Reliance?” As Salve said yes, the bench asked: “What happens to your stock and rights etc.?”
Salve said that in February this year his client did not get the resolution of the NPAs and the bank accounts were frozen. “Today no one is willing to give us anything. 374 Stores Somehow, we are running today, we are managing. Most of the employees are gone,” he said.
As the bench asked, “What will happen to you if an order is in favor of Amazon?”, Salve reiterated: “They will have to line up unsecured creditors… Amazon wanted to destroy us and they destroyed us.” “
Amazon had entered into an investment agreement of Rs 1,400 crore with Future Coupons Pvt Ltd, a firm of the Future Group. The Future Retail and Reliance deal was put on hold in October 2020 by an emergency arbitrator under Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC) rules after Amazon called for arbitration. Amazon and Future Retail are engaged in litigation on various forums.
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