New Delhi: Amazon on Wednesday filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court seeking clarifications on the scope of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) investigations into alleged foreign exchange violations by the company, according to sources. Last month, Amazon had said it was in receipt of summons by the ED in connection with its deal with the Future Group.
According to sources, Amazon in its filing said the ED is expanding the scope of its investigations by seeking privileged and confidential legal advice it received in the ordinary course of business since it started marketplace operations and that such requests aren't related to the agency's probe into the Future-Amazon deal. The US e-tailer has also stated that seeking such information goes against the accepted judicial norms, they added.
Amazon did not respond to queries seeking comments on the matter. The sources said Amazon has also sought the Delhi High Court's advice on the rationale behind ED's summons to its executives who aren't connected to or aren't aware of the Future-Amazon transactions to testify in person. Amazon and Future Group have been battling it out in courts after the Kishore Biyani-led group in August last year agreed to sell its assets to billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail on a slump sale basis for Rs 24,500 crore.