Amazon.com Inc is taking India's financial crime fighting agency to court, seeking to quash an investigation into one of its 2019 deals, a court filing seen by Reuters shows. India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) has for months been probing Amazon's $200 million investment in India's Future Group for suspected violations of foreign investment laws.

The investment is at the center of a protracted legal battle, as Amazon used the terms of that deal – and cited breaches of contract by Future – to give a rival $3.4 billion (about Rs 25,640 crore) of the Indian company’s retail assets. to stop the sale. The ED had summoned several Amazon executives, including its India chief, in recent weeks and the investigation had led to “unnecessary harassment”, the US e-commerce giant said in its filing in the Delhi High Court on December 21.

"The investigation is a fishing and roving exercise." Amazon and the ED, which does not make details of its investigations public, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case will likely be heard on Thursday. The filing is the latest twist in the long-running dispute between Amazon and Future. Though India's antitrust body suspended their 2019 deal last week, saying Amazon had suppressed information when seeking approvals for it, the ED's probe is independent of that.

The filing is the latest twist in a long-running dispute between Amazon and Future. Although India’s antitrust body last week suspended the 2019 deal, saying Amazon suppressed information while seeking approval for it, the ED probe is independent of it.

Amazon's court filing contained a notice from the ED dated Feb. 19 which sought details of its investment in Future, including copies of agreements, bank account details and other related internal communication. It also showed the ED is conducting a far wider probe, and had sought details of big vendors on Amazon's e-commerce website in India, including sales numbers for those that account for more than 5% of total sales on Amazon.in.

The notice came after a February Reuters investigation which found Amazon helped a small number of sellers prosper on its Indian platform, giving them discounted fees and using them to bypass foreign investment laws. Amazon said at the time it was confident it complied with regulations and that it "does not give preferential treatment to any seller on its marketplace."