Supreme Court Asks Karnataka High Court to Hear CCI Plea to Probe Amazon, Flipkart Within 6 Weeks

CCI’s investigation and order 

The Competition Commission of India ordered an investigation against e-commerce players after the Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, a traders’ body, filed a complaint against the firms’ practices like giving deep discounts on online sales of smartphones and cherry-picking sellers. The CCI prima facie had observed that there appears to be an exclusive partnership between smartphone manufacturers and the two e-commerce platforms for the exclusive launch of smartphone brands.

Petition filed in Karnataka High Court

Amazon and Flipkart moved to Karnataka High court seeking a stay and quashing of the probe order respectively. The Karnataka High Court granted an interim stay on the CCI’s order. The court had granted the respondents eight weeks to file a counter.

Appeal in the Supreme Court

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka High Court’s interim stay on the investigation.

The Supreme Court declined to entertain the petition. The Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and Sanjiv Khanna directed the CCI to approach the Karnataka High Court and asked the High Court to decide on the matter within a period of six weeks.

The Court also stated that the present petition may be revived in the event no decision is taken by the High Court.