The Delhi High Court on Thursday upheld an order by Singapore’s Emergency Arbitrator’s (EA) that restrains Future Retail Ltd (FRL)  from going ahead with its deal with Reliance Retail worth Rs 24,713 crore to sell its business. 

The high court directed FRL not to take further action on deal, which was objected to by the US-based e-commerce giant Amazon, and observed that the group wilfully violated Singapore Arbitrator’s order.

Justice J R Midha directed the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group and its directors to deposit Rs 20 lakh in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s COVID-19 relief fund that provides vaccines to senior citizens of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category.

Also Read | Future Group ‘violated contract’ by signing deal with Reliance, says Amazon

The Delhi HC also ordered the presence of Biyani and others on April 28, along with attaching their properties and asking them to show cause as to why they were not detained for three months in a civil prison for violating EA’s order.

The high court’s order came on Amazon’s plea seeking direction to order enforcement of the award by Singapore’s EA on October 25, 2020, restraining FRL from going ahead with its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance Retail.

Amazon, in its interim plea, has sought to restrain FRL from taking any steps to complete the transaction with entities that are a part of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (MDA) Group.

Future Group and Amazon have been locked in a battle after the US-based company took FRL into emergency arbitration over an alleged breach of a contract between them.