The Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to hear Google’s appeal against a decision by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that refused to stay a Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for alleged anti-competitive practices.
Google was represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi before a bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud.
Singhvi claimed that the CCI issued extraordinary directions and that the compliance date was set as January 19, even though the appeal was filed in December. “I am requesting (case listing) for Friday,” Singhvi said.
“We will keep it on Monday,” said the bench, which also included Justice P.S. Narasimha. Singh emphasized that the order’s compliance date is January 19, or the matter will become infructuous.
After the NCLAT decision not to stay the CCI order on abuse of dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem case, Google petitioned the Supreme Court, IANS reported from New Delhi.
The NCLAT declined to issue an interim order earlier this month, citing the fact that Google filed the appeal in December of last year, even though the CCI issued the order in October. It ordered Google to deposit 10% of the fine amount.
The tribunal ruled that because there was no urgency demonstrated in the filing of the appeal, Google could not seek interim relief.
The CCI fined the company Rs 1,337.76 crore in October last year for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets concerning Android mobile devices.
The CCI also fined the company Rs 936.44 crore for abusing its dominant position in the market.