The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea by e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart, asserting that they must undergo an inquiry by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding alleged anti-competitive practices.
Court’s Decision
A bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, along with justices Vineet Saran and Surya Kant, stated that large organizations like Amazon and Flipkart should willingly participate in the inquiry. The bench emphasized that the CCI investigation must proceed, refusing to intervene with the Karnataka High Court’s decision not to interfere with the preliminary inquiry initiated by the CCI into the alleged anti-competitive behavior of these e-commerce platforms.
Extension Granted
While upholding the CCI inquiry, the court granted an extension for the companies to respond to CCI’s queries. This decision followed a request made by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi. The e-commerce companies had approached the apex court challenging the Karnataka High Court’s ruling.
The bench justified its decision by stating that there was no reason to intervene in the high court’s order. Considering that the deadline for response was expiring on August 9, the court extended it by four weeks.
Karnataka High Court’s Ruling
On July 23, the Karnataka High Court dismissed Amazon and Flipkart’s plea against a CCI probe into alleged violations of competition law. A division bench, comprising justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Natraj Rangaswamy, upheld the decision on a batch of appeals filed by the e-commerce companies challenging an earlier order by a single judge of the high court.
Response to Allegations
Amazon had contested a CCI order calling for a director general (DG) level investigation into claims of anti-competitive conduct in the online sale of smartphones on its platform. The Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM), the informant before the CCI, had leveled accusations of predatory pricing, deep discounting, preferential seller listing, and exclusive partnerships against Amazon and Flipkart.
The high court bench stressed that the inquiry could not be quashed at this stage, asserting that the appellants should not fear investigation by CCI. It concluded that the appeals filed by the companies lacked merit and deserved dismissal.
Leave a Reply