The commission reportedly told the apex court that allowing separate lawsuits would lead to interference with the DG's flexibility to conduct investigations in any matter
The Supreme Court (SC) is all set to hear a plea by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). This relates to the demand of the competition commission to transfer writ petitions that have been filed by e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart to itself or the Delhi High Court.
As per media reports, the apex court has been asked by the Attorney General for India (AG), R. Venkatramani, to hear the case before December 17. Just to give some context, the commission asked for the transfer of these petitions with the intent to speed up the process by avoiding multiple proceedings.
The move was taken by the commission as multiple proceedings were scheduled across different courts. This in turn has the possibility of leading to multiple rulings. Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, Karnataka, and Allahabad are some of the high courts where multiple petitions have been filed by the e-commerce giants. A total of 24 cases have been filed by the vendors of the e-commerce giants and Amazon and Flipkart themselves.
The commission, as per Reuters, told the apex court that allowing the separate lawsuits would "lead to absurdity since it will interfere with the flexibility of the (CCI’s) Director General to carry out investigation in any matter." The commission further highlighted that the intent of the pleas was to "debilitate and scuttle” the investigation.
The issue relates to the commission’s findings, which highlighted that both Amazon and Flipkart engaged in anti-competitive practices. As per a Reuters report published in September 2024, both the e-commerce giants flouted the antitrust laws of the country by providing preference to select vendors.
The CCI released two reports separately where it was reportedly mentioned, “Each of the anti-competitive practices alleged ... were investigated and found to be true.”
Soon after this, the Karnataka High Court put a halt to the CCI findings. The stay was made after the court reportedly found out that the director general of the CCI renamed “opposite parties” as “third parties” without seeking the consent of the CCI.
Justice Hemant Chandangouda reportedly said, “The petitioners argue that this action by the DG is in violation of the established procedures and regulations, as the DG is required to obtain prior approval from the commission before altering the status of a party from a third party to an opposite party in the course of an investigation.”
Post this, the CCI recently asked the Karnataka High Court to vacate the stay proceedings in November this year. However, the court is scheduled to hear the matter on December 17.