NEWS: SC says “We expect big organizations like Amazon, Flipkart to voluntarily go for enquiry”

By Legal Wires 3 Minutes Read

The Supreme Court refused to interfere with the Karnataka High Court’s order for initiation of an investigation against Amazon and Flipkart for alleged anti-competitive practices in sales of smartphones, by the Competition Commission of India.

In an appeal by the e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart against the July 23 order of the Karnataka High Court that refused to set aside a probe ordered by the CCI.

The Bench comprising of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant. CJI Ramana remarked “We expect big organizations like Amazon and Flipkart to voluntarily go for enquiry and you don’t want even that? You have to submit and, enquiry has to be permitted.”

The court, however, extended the time to join the CCI probe by four weeks.

“We see no ground to interfere. However we grant four weeks for the expiry to submit to enquiry,” the Court said.

Amazon and Flipkart have been accused of competition law violations in smartphone sales on their websites.

Earlier Amazon and Flipkart had approached the Karnataka High Court against the CCI order which had called for an investigation into anti-competitive conduct in the online sale of smartphones on its platform.

The High Court Division Bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Natraj Rangaswamy dismissed their plea held that “By no stretch of imagination can inquiry be quashed at this stage…Appellants should not be afraid of the investigation of CCI…In the considered opinion of the Court, appeals filed by appellants are devoid of merit and deserved to be dismissed…“

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