The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to dispose of the matter of revocation of approval given to Amazon which has been challenged by Future Coupons Limited.
The direction was issued on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) which sought the High Court’s intervention for protecting 6,000 traders who had supplied goods to the Future Group amounting to about Rs 10,000 crore.
The CAIT has prayed that between the fights of corporate giants, traders should not suffer financial losses.
Additional Solicitor General N. Venkatraman, who represented the CCI, informed the court that the Commission is contemplating calling Amazon on January 4, 2022, for a hearing after which the matter will be decided.
The court refused the arguments and said that the matter should be disposed of within two weeks. The CAIT was represented by Advocate Saurabh Kripal, Rajat Sehgal, and others.
ALSO READ: Amazon accused of copying Indian sellers’ products, offering under own brand name
CAIT, through its representation to the CCI, had demanded the annulment of its approval that was granted to Amazon on the basis of its misrepresentation about the actual transaction.
Amazon’s claim of control over FRL through their investment in FCPL is illegal as the no-foreign company is allowed to own or control a multi-brand retail company such as Future Retail Limited.
The CAIT said that if such misrepresentation is allowed to continue, then every company would misrepresent the facts of transactions just to seek the CCI’s approval and subsequently carry out a different transaction camouflaged as approved by CCI.
It also said that the proposed transactions contemplated in the FRL’s scheme, if given effect, would ensure that the tens of thousands of investors and shareholders would get a lifeline to recover their hard-earned monies entrusted to the Future Group.
Banks, including public sector banks, would avoid the prospect of yet another major non-performing loan being added to their book.
To protect the interests of the traders, the CAIT has sought relief from the court to issue directions calling for all documents, records, internal notes, and other information relating to the subject matter of the present petition from the CCI.
It has also prayed to direct CCI to take a decision with respect to the show-cause notice dated June 4 within a period of ten days in accordance with law and the facts and circumstances of the case.
The CAIT had demanded the annulment of its approval that was granted to Amazon on the basis of their misrepresentation about the actual transaction.
It said that if such misrepresentation is allowed to continue, then every company would misrepresent the facts of transactions just to seek CCI’s approval and subsequently carry out different transactions camouflaged as a transaction approved by CCI.
(This story has been sourced from a third-party syndicated feed, agencies. Raavi Media accepts no responsibility or liability for the dependability, trustworthiness, reliability, and data of the text. Raavi Media management/ythisnews.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content at its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.)
