Google-CCI Case: Supreme Court To Hear Google's Plea Against NCLAT Order on January 18

The Supreme Court has set 18 January as the date for hearing Google's plea challenging the order of the NCLAT refusing an interim stay on the competition regulator imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on it.

The Supreme Court (SC) has set 18 January as the date for hearing Google's plea challenging the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) refusing an interim stay on the competition regulator imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on it. Earlier on January 4, the NCLAT had refused an interim stay on an order of the competition regulator and had asked Google to deposit 10 per cent of the amount.

The NCLAT admitted the search giant's challenge to the CCI slapping a Rs 1,337.76 crore fine for abusing the dominant position of its Android smartphone operating system in the country.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and J B Pardiwala asked senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the US firm, to clarify on Wednesday if Google India practices the same regime in place in India as it has in Europe, said a report by news agency PTI.

Tech giant Google had last week warned that the growth of its massively popular Android ecosystem in India will stall due to an antitrust order by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that asks it to change how it markets the Android platform. The Alphabet-owned company mentioned this in a Supreme Court challenge.

India's antitrust watchdog had penalised the Alphabet-owned company $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in the market for Android, which is present in 97 per cent of smartphones in India and is a key growth region for the US tech behemoth.

Earlier last week, Google's plea for an interim stay on the antitrust ruling by CCI was dismissed by the NCLAT. The appellate tribunal directed Google to deposit 10 per cent of Rs 1337.76 crore fine, it has also issued notices to CCI and directed to list the matter on February 13, for a hearing over the interim stay, a report said.

Google had challenged the CCI ruling in the Android case before the NCLAT and sought an immediate stay on the ruling. In the appeal, Google had challenged the findings as “patently erroneous” and ignoring “the reality of competition in India, Google’s procompetitive business model, and the benefits created for all stakeholders”.