The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the NCLAT's June 2022 order which had rejected US e-commerce giant Amazon's appeal against an anti-trust suspension of its investment deal with Future Group.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also set aside the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) December 17, 2021 order which had levied a Rs 202 crore penalty on Amazon and suspended its deal with Future.
Amazon moved court against the penalty imposed for allegedly concealing material details while seeking regulatory clearance for its 2019 investment in Future Coupons Private Limited.
The dispute relates to Amazon’s 2019 stake purchase in Future Coupons Private Limited (FCPL), a company linked to Future Retail Limited (FRL), where it informed the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that it was acquiring a 49 per cent stake in FCPL.
Amazon told the CCI that the investment was intended to boost FCPL’s gift card, loyalty card, and payments businesses.
While initially CCI had approved the combination, it had also ordered that the combination could be revoked if the information submitted by Amazon was later found to be inaccurate and incorrect.
The case took a serious turn when, after examining Amazon's internal correspondence, CCI found that Amazon's real interest did not lie merely in boosting FCPL's gift card and loyalty business but in creating a strategic foothold in Future Retail and India’s offline retail sector.
"In view of the findings recorded above, the appeal is allowed. The impugned judgement dated June 13, 2022 passed by the NCLAT and order dated December 17, 2021 passed by the CCI are set aside," Justice Nath said while pronouncing the verdict.
The top court said if any amount was deposited or recovered from Amazon pursuant to these orders, the same be refunded within eight weeks.
The bench delivered its verdict on a plea filed by Amazon challenging the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) June 2022 order.