The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that talks between Amazon and Future group to resolve their tussle over a ₹24,731-crore merger deal with Reliance has made no headway.
The U.S. e-commerce company urged a Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana to intervene to ensure that the stores of Future Retail were not taken over by Reliance.
Amazon had on March 3 suggested talks with Future to resolve the dispute amicably. The court had given 10 days for the companies to engage with each other to attempt a resolution.
“It often happens that sometimes, we hope very positively but in the end it is not positive at all. The conversation was over and failed. Nothing is happening right now,” senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, for Amazon, submitted on Tuesday.
Mr. Subramanium urged the apex court to let the arbitration proceedings continue.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for one of the Future group firms, submitted: “We are broke. Amazon has been driving us to the knees and they have done so. Nothing has been transferred. The rents have not been paid for over two years, we had no money, which is what we have been telling all forums. Our rent agreements are being terminated,”
“We can talk about the glory and grandeur of things, but when we are broke, we are broke,” Mr. Salve said.
The court scheduled the next hearing on March 16.
