The apex court said the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) – while asking the tech giant to deposit 10% of Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty for alleged anti-competitive practices – had not “really looked” into its application for a stay on the antitrust order of October 20.
A Bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud agreed to hear Google’s appeal on merits at 11.30 am on Thursday.
Initially, the Bench wanted to stay the CCI order for two weeks and ask the appellate tribunal to hear the company during the stay. However, the Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, appearing for CCI, opposed the CJI’s suggestions on remanding the case to the NCLAT, saying it should be heard by the apex court itself.
He further told the judges that “there cannot be two innings. This is a matter of national importance. The world is looking at us”.
Later, the CJI agreed, saying “there should be one innings only.”
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SC on Monday had asked senior counsel A M Singhvi, appearing for Google, if the company was “willing to practice the same regime in India as it has in Europe” and if the antitrust directions were “consistent with the steps it had taken in Europe.” The Bench went on to say, “Please reflect on this and come back on Wednesday.”The ASG argued the tech giant was observing different standards in Europe and India, and was discriminating against the latter.
Google is claiming to have been operating the Android mobile platform for the last 15 years and “far-reaching changes” directed by the antitrust order will lead to “lasting and irreparable harm” to it, device manufacturers, Indian consumers, app developers, and the wider economy.
The Alphabet subsidiary has to make changes to the way it markets the Android platform in India by January 19, as per the CCI ruling.
The antitrust body’s order could stall the growth of the Android ecosystem in India, according to Google. Implementing the CCI’s directions would mean modifying existing contracts, introducing new licence agreements, and altering existing arrangements with more than 1,100 device manufacturers and thousands of app developers, the company has said.
It also stated that the CCI’s order requiring wide-ranging changes to the Android ecosystem “undermines public interest, user safety and privacy for the Indian Android users”. The US company said these changes would “open new back doors to foreign actors looking to compromise the security of Indian Android device users.”
“For example, if the tribunal eventually finds in Google’s favour upon hearing the full appeal, it will not be able to undo the user safety damage that would have already been caused to the ecosystem,” Google said, while asking the SC to put on hold the remedial measures as the order was based on “speculation.”
On January 4, the NCLAT had refused to stay a Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty imposed on the technology giant by the CCI for alleged anti-competitive practices, citing “lack of urgency” and asked Google to deposit 10% of the penalty within three weeks.
The CCI on October 20 penalised Google for allegedly exploiting its dominant position in markets such as online search and through the Android app store.
Android powers 97% of smartphones in India, which is now the world’s second largest smartphone market after China. The CCI had also asked the internet major to cease and desist from various unfair business practices.
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