SC Refuses to Entertain CCI's Appeal against Amazon, Flipkart

The Supreme Court has declined to entertain the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) plea to vacate a stay order issued by the Karnataka High Court against its order calling for a probe into alleged anti-competitive practices by Flipkart and Amazon.

The apex court has, however, given liberty to CCI to approach the Karnataka High Court and file an application to vacate the stay. Once this application is filed, the Karnataka High Court has six weeks to decide on the application. The apex court has requested the Karnataka High Court to dispose of the matter expeditiously, preferably within six weeks from the date the application is filed. The SC bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar also asked CCI to approach a division bench of the high court to seek relief.

A bench comprising Justices AM Khanwikar, Dinesh Maheswari, and Sanjiv Khanna asked the CCI to approach the High Court for relief. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CCI, said that the probe ordered against e-commerce companies was administrative in nature and would not affect the rights of any party. He sought keeping the petition pending saying there are several wider issues involved in the case.

CCI on January 13 ordered a probe against Amazon, Flipkart on alleged anti-competitive practices on a case filed by Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh under Section 3 of the Competition Act. This Delhi-based association had alleged that both Amazon and Flipkart were indulging in exclusive arrangements with smartphone makers, preferential treatment to some sellers and deep discounting. The CCI also said there was prima facie case and had asked its Director General to investigate both companies. Subsequently, the two e-tailers moved the Karnataka high court seeking a stay and quashing of the probe order.

The Karnataka High Court had on February 14 granted an interim stay on the CCI order and had asked all the parties to come back with more evidence and details in two months. After the court refused to interfere with the high court’s order, it was then when Tushar Mehta urged the court to keep the petition pending. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the e-commerce firms, opposed the plea while apprising the bench of procedural gaps. He said the CCI has approached the court after a delay of 200 days and should have approached the high court before appearing before the apex court.

“The order of the apex court has given way to a unique situation both CAIT and Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh have filed an appeal before a double bench of the Karnataka High Court challenging the single-judge bench order of 14 February. This appeal is already pending before the two-judge bench and the matter is likely to be heard soon. Now, the SC has asked single-judge bench to hear the matter again and decide it within six weeks,” stated Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT).

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