New Delhi, Feb 3 : The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to pass any interim order on a write petition filed by Future Retail Ltd (FRL) against its onshore lenders to restrain coercive steps by the consortium of banks against FRL over loan defaults. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli refused to pass any order.
The petition was filed by the Future Group under Article 32 seeking directions to set aside or alternatively withdraw the Event of Default Notices addressed by the lenders. On February 1, the apex court had sought the banks’ response after FRL sought for deferral of the coercive steps by pointing out the difficulties created by the orders passed in the arbitration case with Amazon.
FRL has sought a stay on being tagged as a non-performing asset (NPA) following the delay in the repayment of money due on December 31 to a consortium of banks and lenders who are parties to an agreement under a one-time restructuring (OTR) plan. On Thursday, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the banks’ consortium, raised preliminary objections regarding the maintainability of the writ petition. Senior lawyer and former Solicitor General Harish Salve, appearing for FRL, submitted that he is agreeable to Dwivdedi’s suggestion.
But he added that Amazon cannot deposit a single rupee here being a foreign multi-brand company. Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Amazon, said his clients have no hesitation in discussing the matter with lenders for a resolution.
