JOIN USAmazon wanted to destroy us and it succeeded, Future group tells SC
Future group on Friday opposed before the Supreme Court a plea by American behemoth Amazon to restrain it from further alienating its stores to Reliance Industries, saying the e-commerce company “wanted to destroy us, and it succeeded.”
"For Rs 1,400 crore (the Amazon-Future deal), Amazon has destroyed a Rs 26,000 crore company. Amazon has been successful in what it wanted to do. We are hanging by a thread. No one wants to do business with us now. When the landlord gives an eviction notice, then what can we do,” senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for FRL, contended before a bench led by Chief Justice N V Ramana.
He referred to the take over of its 835 Big Bazar stores by Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries, for Rs 4,800 crore unpaid rent.
"FRL has lost control of over 800 stores on the lapse of lease due to the non-payment of rent and the eviction action was initiated by the landlords. If Reliance doesn’t extend our scheme then what will we do? We are on oxygen now. No payments can be made from our accounts as they have been frozen due to the NPA classification,” Salve said.
Amazon, for its part, alleged collusion between FRL and Reliance Industries’ subsidiary, saying that it was hard to believe that FRL surrendered its 800 stores without any protest.
“Future's claims that it was short of money and could not pay lease is a strategy and a sham. FRL lapsed leases were now in favour of Reliance and it was unfathomable that over 830 stores could be let go without any attempt to save them," senior advocate Aspi Chinoy, appearing for Amazon, said.
The counsel said he had never seen a lessee that surrenders possession of property so swiftly without fighting it out in court.
Amazon claimed FRL had transferred its stores to Reliance despite giving assurance to the top court on September 9, 2021 that its retail assets will continue to vest with it till the final order on sanctioning of the merger scheme comes from the National Company Law Tribunal.
Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, also appearing for Amazon, accused the Future Group of committing “fraud". He said sudden handover of assets should not be done, pending the arbitral proceedings.
The court would hear the matter, related to the Amazon's plea to restrain Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail from opening any new store in place of Future Group's Big Bazar and to stop the Future group from alienating or transferring any of its retail assets, again on April 4.
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