ED seeks documents from Future on disputed Amazon deal

The Enforecement Directorate has ordered Future Group to submit documents related to its 2019 deal with Amazon.com Inc as part of an investigation into a possible breach of foreign investment laws, according to sources and a notice seen by Reuters.

The demand indicates heightened scrutiny of a deal that is at the heart of legal battles between Amazon and Future after the Indian company decided to sell its retail assets to rival Reliance Industries for $3.4 billion in 2020.

That transaction has been put on hold by an arbitrator and Indian courts after Amazon argued Future had violated its contracts with the US company by entering into the sale. Future denies that and says Amazon is illegally exerting control over the Indian firm’s business decisions.