Amazon's letter is nothing but an afterthought, says Future group

Amazon is not a shareholder or creditor of Future Retail (FRL) and hence has no locus standi to send the letter, a spokesperson for the Future group said in response to a query.

“Amazon’s letter is nothing but an afterthought and a counterblast to the show-cause notice by the Competition Commission of India against Amazon in pursuance of the complaint by Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) seeking withdrawal of the CCI’s approval for Amazon’s investment into FCPL,” said the spokesperson. “The allegations contained in Amazon’s letter are being made as part of a legal dispute that is being dealt with by the Supreme Court, high court and other regulatory forums.”

The spokesperson said the Board of FRL had formed a crisis management committee to deal with the situation arising out of Covid lockdowns, nationwide store closures, and the sale of pledged shares impacting all aspects of the company’s functioning. “It was the committee’s job to raise questions with the management. Various questions were raised by the committee from time to time and these were clarified through detailed explanations by management with supporting documents and presentations to their satisfaction, as well as through special audits, wherever required.”

The spokesperson said all related-party transactions and records of fund utilisation were on record and part of the public disclosures made by the company as part of standard governance practices. “There is nothing new that is being brought to the notice, except for false speculations being created out of selective excerpts from these documents,” said the spokesperson. “One should understand the motivation behind these allegations and the timing of the same, rather than rely on these baseless and malicious allegations.”

A query sent to Amazon remained unanswered till the time of going to press.