The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Amazon and Future Retail Limited (FRL) to jointly move the Singapore International Arbitration Centre for the resumption of the arbitration proceedings relating to the Kishore Biyani company’s Rs 24,000-crore merger with Reliance Retail.

A bench of Chief Justice N.V.Ramana, Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Hima Kohli also allowed Future Retail debtor Bank of India to withdraw the caveat application filed by it on the matter.

The court asked the Future group and Amazon to jointly urge the Delhi high court on Tuesday to first hear the enforcement petitions of the US e-commerce major which also relate to the preservation of assets of Future Retail Limited (FRL).

The bench told Amazon and Future to file a joint memo before the bench on the resumption of arbitration so that it could pass appropriate orders on April 6 when the matter will be taken up again.

“The intervention application filed on behalf of the applicant/intervenor – Bank of India is permitted to be withdrawn without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the applicant.”

“It is stated and agreed by both the parties that they wish to appear before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and request that the proceedings, pending adjudication before it, be expedited on the issues agreed upon between them,” the CJI said.

The bench is hearing Amazon’s appeal against the January 5 order of the Delhi high court, which stayed the proceedings before the arbitral tribunal over FRL’s merger deal with Reliance Retail.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Amazon, said that he was seeking an interim order to ensure that the FRL assets, including “Big Bazaar shops”, are not alienated till the dispute over its merger with Reliance Retail is decided by an arbitral tribunal.

The bench asked him why it cannot be dealt with and decided by the single-judge bench of the high court.

“The learned single judge is declining to hear the enforcement petitions and he says that the priority is given to the interim relief in the appeal,” Subramanium said.

The submission was opposed by senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for FRL, saying that Amazon has argued the same plea before the high court for two days.

“When hearing is going on, judges say things and that is the nature of the game. Ultimately what order comes out may accept one or the other point of view. It is not fair to the judge when you (Amazon) come and say that he is declining. No order has been passed. The learned judge is hearing everything,” Salve said.

To this, the bench said that it may urge the high court to take up the enforcement pleas of Amazon first.

“In all fairness what we feel is that your (FRL) company application can wait and it is important that his (Subramanium's) interim application has to be considered first,” the CJI said.

Salve agreed and said that no order to this effect was needed to be passed as he would support Amazon and make a request to the high court that the enforcement petitions of the US firm are heard first.