Delhi High Court - Orders
Rule 27 Of The Cpc) Future Coupons ... vs Amazon.Com Nv Investment Holdings Llc & ... on 24 February, 2022
Author: C.Hari Shankar
Bench: C.Hari Shankar
$~10, 11, 12, 13 and A1
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021, IA 14257/2021 & 3121/2022 (XLI
Rule 27 of the CPC)
FUTURE COUPONS PRIVATE
LIMITED & ORS. Appellants
Through Mr. Mukul Rohatgi and Mr.
Dayan Krishnan, Sr. Advocates with Mr.
Mahesh Agarwal, Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Mr.
Karan Luthra, Mr. Pranjit Bhattacharya, Mr.
Sanjeevi Seshadri, Advs.
versus
AMAZON.COM NV INVESTMENT
HOLDINGS LLC & ANR. ..... Respondents
Through Mr Gopal Subramanium, Mr.
Rajiv Nayar, Mr. Gourab Banerji, Mr Arun
Kathpalia, Mr. Amit Sibal, Mr Nakul
Dewan, Senior Advocates with Mr. Anand S
Pathak, Mr. Amit K Mishra, Mr. Shashank
Gautam, Ms. Sreemoyee Deb, Mr. Vijay
Purohit, Mr. Mohit Singh, Mr. Promit
Chatterjee, Ms.Anubhuti Mishra, Ms
Samridhi Hota, Mr Shivam Pandey, Ms.
Nikita Bangera, Mr. Pratik Jhaveri, Ms.
Didon Misri, Mr. Chetan Chawla, Mr Faizan
Mithaiwala, Mr. Vijayendra Pratap Singh,
Mr. Rachit Bahl, Ms.Roopali Singh, Mr.
Abhijnan Jha, Mr. Priyank Ladoia,
Mr.Tanmay Sharma, Ms. Vanya Chhabra,
Mr. Arnab Ray, Mr.Vedant Kapur, Mr.
Shaurya Mittal, Mr. Abhisar Vidyarthi, Mr.
Kartik Nayar, Mr. Pawan Bhushan, Ms
Hima Lawrence, Ms. Ujwala Uppaluri, Mr.
SP Mukherjee, Mr. TS Sundaram, Mr. Vinay
Tripathi, Mr. Aishvary Vikram, Mr.
Kaustubh Prakash, Ms. Anushka Shah, Ms.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI
ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 1 of 9
Signing Date:22.03.2022
17:42:41
Neelu Mohan and Ms Manjira Dasgupta,
Advocates for Respondent 1
Mr. Harish Salve, Mr. Ritin Rai, Sr.
Advocates with Mr. Ameet Naik, Mr.
Raghav Shankar, Ms. Madhu Gadodia, Mr.
Abhishek Kale, Mr. Harshvardhan Jha and
Mr. Pankaj Patel, Advs. for Respondent
2/FRL
+ ARB. A. (COMM.) 64/2021, IA 14285/2021 & 3120/2022 (XLI
Rule 27 of the CPC)
FUTURE RETAIL LTD. ..... Appellant
Through Mr. Harish Salve, Mr. Ritin
Rai, Sr. Advocates with Mr. Ameet Naik,
Mr. Raghav Shankar, Ms. Madhu Gadodia,
Mr. Abhishek Kale, Mr. Harshvardhan Jha
and Mr. Pankaj Patel, Advs. for FRL
versus
AMAZON.COM NV INVESTMENT
HOLDINGS LLC & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through Mr Gopal Subramanium, Mr.
Rajiv Nayar, Mr. Gourab Banerji, Mr Arun
Kathpalia, Mr. Amit Sibal, Mr Nakul
Dewan, Senior Advocates with Mr. Anand S
Pathak, Mr. Amit K Mishra, Mr. Shashank
Gautam, Ms. Sreemoyee Deb, Mr. Vijay
Purohit, Mr. Mohit Singh, Mr. Promit
Chatterjee, Ms.Anubhuti Mishra, Ms
Samridhi Hota, Mr Shivam Pandey, Ms.
Nikita Bangera, Mr. Pratik Jhaveri, Ms.
Didon Misri, Mr. Chetan Chawla, Mr Faizan
Mithaiwala, Mr. Vijayendra Pratap Singh,
Mr. Rachit Bahl, Ms.Roopali Singh, Mr.
Abhijnan Jha, Mr. Priyank Ladoia,
Mr.Tanmay Sharma, Ms. Vanya Chhabra,
Mr. Arnab Ray, Mr.Vedant Kapur, Mr.
Shaurya Mittal, Mr. Abhisar Vidyarthi, Mr.
Kartik Nayar, Mr. Pawan Bhushan, Ms
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI
ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 2 of 9
Signing Date:22.03.2022
17:42:41
Hima Lawrence, Ms. Ujwala Uppaluri, Mr.
SP Mukherjee, Mr. TS Sundaram, Mr. Vinay
Tripathi, Mr. Aishvary Vikram, Mr.
Kaustubh Prakash, Ms. Anushka Shah, Ms.
Neelu Mohan and Ms Manjira Dasgupta,
Advocates for Respondent 1
Mr. Mukul Rohatgi and Mr. Dayan
Krishnan, Sr. Advocates with Mr. Mahesh
Agarwal, Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Mr. Karan
Luthra, Mr. Pranjit Bhattacharya, Mr.
Sanjeevi Seshadri, Advs. for Respondent
Nos. 2 to 13
+ OMP (ENF.) (COMM.) 17/2021
AMAZON.COM NV INVESTMENT
HOLDINGS LLC ..... Decree Holder
Through Mr Gopal Subramanium, Mr.
Rajiv Nayar, Mr. Gourab Banerji, Mr Arun
Kathpalia, Mr. Amit Sibal, Mr Nakul
Dewan, Senior Advocates with Mr. Anand S
Pathak, Mr. Amit K Mishra, Mr. Shashank
Gautam, Ms. Sreemoyee Deb, Mr. Vijay
Purohit, Mr. Mohit Singh, Mr. Promit
Chatterjee, Ms.Anubhuti Mishra, Ms
Samridhi Hota, Mr Shivam Pandey, Ms.
Nikita Bangera, Mr. Pratik Jhaveri, Ms.
Didon Misri, Mr. Chetan Chawla, Mr Faizan
Mithaiwala, Mr. Vijayendra Pratap Singh,
Mr. Rachit Bahl, Ms.Roopali Singh, Mr.
Abhijnan Jha, Mr. Priyank Ladoia,
Mr.Tanmay Sharma, Ms. Vanya Chhabra,
Mr. Arnab Ray, Mr.Vedant Kapur, Mr.
Shaurya Mittal, Mr. Abhisar Vidyarthi, Mr.
Kartik Nayar, Mr. Pawan Bhushan, Ms
Hima Lawrence, Ms. Ujwala Uppaluri, Mr.
SP Mukherjee, Mr. TS Sundaram, Mr. Vinay
Tripathi, Mr. Aishvary Vikram, Mr.
Kaustubh Prakash, Ms. Anushka Shah, Ms.
Neelu Mohan and Ms Manjira Dasgupta,
Advocates
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI
ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 3 of 9
Signing Date:22.03.2022
17:42:41
versus
FUTURE COUPONS
PRIVATE LIMITED & ORS. ..... Judgement Debtors
Through Mr. Harish Salve and Mr. Ritin
Rai, Sr. Advocates with Mr. Ameet Naik,
Adv. for Judgment Debtor 1
Mr. Raghav Shankar, Ms. Madhu Gadodia,
Mr. Abhishek Kale, Mr. Harshvardhan Jha
and Mr. Pankaj Patel, Advs. for Judgment
Debtor 2
Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. Adv., Mr. Dayan
Krishnan, Sr. Adv., Mr. Mahesh Agarwal,
Adv., Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Adv., Mr. Karan
Luthra, Adv., Mr. Pranjit Bhattacharya,
Adv., Mr. Sanjeevi Seshadri, Adv., Mr.
Vishnu Tallagragada, Advs. for Judgment
Debtors 3 to 13
+ CS(COMM) 493/2020
FUTURE RETAIL LTD. ..... Plaintiff
Through Mr. Harish Salve and Mr. Ritin
Rai, Sr. Advocates with Mr. Ameet Naik,
Mr. Raghav Shankar, Ms. Madhu Gadodia,
Mr. Abhishek Kale, Mr. Harshvardhan Jha
and Mr. Pankaj Patel, Advs.
versus
AMAZON.COM NV INVESTMENT
HOLDINGS LLC & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through Mr Gopal Subramanium, Mr.
Rajiv Nayar, Mr. Gourab Banerji, Mr Arun
Kathpalia, Mr. Amit Sibal, Mr Nakul
Dewan, Senior Advocates with Mr. Anand S
Pathak, Mr. Amit K Mishra, Mr. Shashank
Gautam, Ms. Sreemoyee Deb, Mr. Vijay
Purohit, Mr. Mohit Singh, Mr. Promit
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI
ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 4 of 9
Signing Date:22.03.2022
17:42:41
Chatterjee, Ms.Anubhuti Mishra, Ms
Samridhi Hota, Mr Shivam Pandey, Ms.
Nikita Bangera, Mr. Pratik Jhaveri, Ms.
Didon Misri, Mr. Chetan Chawla, Mr Faizan
Mithaiwala, Mr. Vijayendra Pratap Singh,
Mr. Rachit Bahl, Ms.Roopali Singh, Mr.
Abhijnan Jha, Mr. Priyank Ladoia,
Mr.Tanmay Sharma, Ms. Vanya Chhabra,
Mr. Arnab Ray, Mr.Vedant Kapur, Mr.
Shaurya Mittal, Mr. Abhisar Vidyarthi, Mr.
Kartik Nayar, Mr. Pawan Bhushan, Ms
Hima Lawrence, Ms. Ujwala Uppaluri, Mr.
SP Mukherjee, Mr. TS Sundaram, Mr. Vinay
Tripathi, Mr. Aishvary Vikram, Mr.
Kaustubh Prakash, Ms. Anushka Shah, Ms.
Neelu Mohan and Ms Manjira Dasgupta,
Advocates for Defendant 1
Mr. Mukul Rohatgi and Mr. Dayan
Krishnan, Sr. Advocates with Mr. Mahesh
Agarwal, Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Mr. Karan
Luthra, Mr. Pranjit Bhattacharya, Mr.
Sanjeevi Seshadri, Advs. for Defendants 2 to
13
Mr. K. R. Sasiprabhu, Mr.Vishnu Sharma
and Mr. Tushar Bhardwaj, Advs for
Defendants 14 and 15
+ W.P.(C) 14967/2021
AMAZON WHOLESALE
INDIA PVT & ANR. Petitioners
Through Mr. Siddharth Luthra Sr Adv,
Mr. Anand S. Pathak, Mr. Amit Kumar
Mishra, , Mr. Rohan Jaitley, Mr. Gaurav
Mahajan, Mr. Abhinav Tandon, Mr. Nakul
Gandhi, Mr. Tushar Bhatnagar, Mr. Yash
Kumar, Mr. Kaustubh Seth, Advs. for
Petitioner 1
Mr. Rajeev Nayar, Sr Adv, Mr. Mukul
Gupta Sr. Adv, Mr. Sidharth Aggarwal Sr.
Adv, Mr. Anand S. Pathak, Mr. Amit Kumar
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI
ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 5 of 9
Signing Date:22.03.2022
17:42:41
Mishra, Mr. Gaurav Mahajan, Mr. Abhinav
Tandon, Mr. Nakul Gandhi, Mr. Tushar
Bhatnagar, Mr. Yash Kumar, Ms.
Sowjhanya Shankaran, Advs. for Petitioner 2
Versus
THE DIRECTORATE OF
ENFORCEMENT & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through Mr. Zoheb Hossain, Spl.
Counsel for ED with Mr. Vivek Gurnani and
Ms. Snehal Kaila, Advs.
Mr. Dayan Krishnan, Sr. Advocate with Mr.
Mahesh Agarwal, Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Mr.
Karan Luthra, Mr. Pranjit Bhattacharya, Mr.
Sanjeevi Seshadri, Advs. for Future Coupons
Pvt Ltd-Intervenor
Mr. Krishnan Venugopal Sr. Advocate with
Mr. Rajat Sehgal, Advocate for
Intervener/CAIT
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C.HARI SHANKAR
ORDER
% 24.02.2022
1. This Court applied its mind as to the applications/petitions which would have to be heard first.
2. The Emergency Arbitrator in the Arbitral Tribunal, in the present cases, initially, passed an order dated 25th October, 2020. OMP (Enf)(Comm) 17/2021 seeks enforcement of the said order.
3. An application for vacation of the said order was filed by Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (hereinafter "FCPL"). Future Retail Ltd (hereinafter "FRL") filed a reply to the said application, which was permitted by Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 6 of 9 Signing Date:22.03.2022 17:42:41 the learned Arbitral Tribunal to be treated as a substantive application, seeking vacation of the order on the part of FRL.
4. Both these applications have been dismissed by a second order dated 21st October, 2021 passed by the Arbitral Tribunal.
5. ARB A (Comm) 63/2021 and ARB A (Comm) 64/2021, at the instance of FCPL and FRL, challenged the order dated 21st October, 2021, passed by the learned Arbitral Tribunal.
6. Mr Gopal Subramanium, learned Senior Counsel for Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC (hereinafter "Amazon") submits that as, till the passing of the order dated 21st October, 2021, by the learned Arbitral Tribunal, there was no appellate challenge to the earlier order dated 25th October, 2020, and OMP (Enf) (Comm) 17/2021 seeks enforcement of the said order, it would be appropriate to take up the said OMP before hearing IA 14257/2021 in ARB A (Comm) 63/2021 or IA 14285/2021 in ARB A (Comm) 64/2021.
7. While this Court would undoubtedly hear all these matters, in my considered opinion, once there is a challenge to an order and a petition seeking enforcement, ordinarily the challenge should be taken up first. No doubt the prayer in the appeals is only directed against the order dated 21st October, 2021. However, the order dated 21st October, 2021 was passed on an application seeking vacation of the earlier order dated 25th October, 2020.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 7 of 9 Signing Date:22.03.2022 17:42:418. Nonetheless, in any event, as this Court is hearing all these matters, in the interest of justice of charting out the procedure for the said purpose, the Court intends to take up in the first instance, IA 14257/2021 in ARB A (Comm) 63/2021 and IA 14285/2021 in ARB A (Comm) 64/2021.
EX.APPL.(OS) 229/2022 (Section 151 CPC for exemption) EX.APPL.(OS) 231/2022 (Section 151 CPC for exemption) and EX.APPL.(OS) 233/2022 (Section 151 CPC for exemption) in OMP (ENF.) (COMM.) 17/2021
9. Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.
10. The applications stand disposed of.
EX.APPL.(OS) 228/2022 (recall of approval), EX.APPL.(OS) 230/2022 (recall of observation) and EX.APPL.(OS) 232/2022 (Section 151 CPC for direction) in OMP (ENF.) (COMM.) 17/2021
11. Issue notice, returnable on 30th March, 2022.
12. Notice is accepted on behalf of FCPL and FRL by Mr. Ameet Naik.
13. Reply to these applications, if any, be filed within a period of two weeks from today with advance copy to learned Counsel for the applicant, who may file rejoinder thereto, if any, within a period of one week thereof.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 8 of 9 Signing Date:22.03.2022 17:42:41ARB A (Comm) 63/2021 ARB A (Comm) 64/2021 OMP (ENF.) (COMM.) 17/2021, EX.APPL.(OS) 880/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption) EX.APPL.(OS) 881/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 882/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 883/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 884/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 885/2021, EX.APPL.(OS) 886/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 887/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 888/2021 (abeyance), EX.APPL.(OS) 889/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 890/2021 (for adjournment of the proceedings), EX.APPL.(OS) 891/2021(Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 892/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 893/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 894/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 895/2021 (exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 896/2021 (exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 897/2021 (Section 151 CPC for exemption), EX.APPL.(OS) 936/2021 (Order I Rule 10 of the CPC) and EX.APPL.(OS) 937/2021 (Order XXI Rules 58 and 59 of the CPC for clarification of judgment dt. 18.03.21) CS(COMM) 493/2020, I.A. 10377/2020 (Order II Rule 2 of the CPC), I.A. 8888/2021 (Section 8) and I.A. 8889/2021 (Order VIII Rule 1 of the CPC) W.P.(C) 14967/2021, CM APPL. 47253/2021, CM APPL. 354/2022 , CM APPL. 487/2022 and CM APPL. 2122/2022
14. Submissions of Mr. Salve are in progress.
15. Renotify for further submissions on 28th February, 2022 as part heard at 2:15 PM.
C.HARI SHANKAR, J FEBRUARY 24, 2022 r.bararia Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI ARB. A. (COMM.) 63/2021 & contd. matters Page 9 of 9 Signing Date:22.03.2022 17:42:41