INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Reliance Industries was the top drag on the Sensex, it alone wiped out 100 points from the index.Shares of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance
Industries fell as much as 2.43 per cent to hit an intraday low of Rs 1,892.55 on the BSE after Amazon.com on Monday requested a court to
block partner Future Group's $3.4 billion deal to sell its retail assets to Reliance Industries, in its latest attempt to derail the deal, a
court filing seen by Reuters showed
Amazon has asked the Delhi High Court to enforce the decision of a Singapore arbitrator, which both sides had agreed to use in case of
disputes, the filing showed.In October, the arbitrator issued an interim order saying the deal should be put on hold
Amazon argues Future breached some pre-existing clauses by entering into a deal with Reliance, but the Indian group has maintained the
arbitrator's order is not binding and needs to be ratified by an Indian court
Future has "deliberately" disobeyed the arbitrator's order, Amazon argued in its court filing, which is likely to be heard by the court in
New Delhi later this week.The US group's latest court move comes after Indian stock exchanges last week gave the go ahead to the Future
deal, after communicating with India's markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).The Amazon filing also argued
that Future should not rely on any regulatory approval it has received, in light of the arbitrator's injunction
Future and Reliance did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Amazon declined to comment.Any violation of the arbitrator
Group CEO Kishore Biyani, and some other respondents in the case, in a civil prison
Future, in a statement to India's BSE and NSE stock exchanges, said it had been informed by Amazon lawyers about the court filing, and that
Future and a spokesman for Biyani, as well as Reliance, did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.As of 2:19 pm, Reliance Industries
shares were trading 1.81 per cent lower at Rs 1,902 in-line with the Sensex which was down 2 per cent
Reliance Industries was the top drag on the Sensex, it alone wiped out 100 points from the Sensex, data from BSE showed.
