SC to hear Google’s appeal challenging a penalty of Rs. 1337.76 crores in the last week of January 2024

Today (October 09), the Supreme Court  (SC) assured that it will start hearing the appeal filed by Google challenging a penalty of Rs. 1337.76 crores in the last week of January 2024. The penalty was imposed on Google for allegedly abusing its dominant position in multiple markets concerning Android mobile devices. After the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) upheld a decision of the CCI (Competition Commission of India) on the issue, Google filed the appeal. The matter was heard today by a three-judge bench including Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Manoj Misra, and Justice JB Pardiwala. CJI said, “I will ensure that no other cases are listed then so that the matter is over in a couple of days.” 

A press release issued by the CCI illustrated that “The Commission has imposed monetary penalty as well as issued cease and desist order against Google from indulging in anti-competitive practices that have been to be in contravention of the provisions of Section 4 of the Act.” In an earlier hearing, the SC refused to give interim relief to Google and said “We resist from entering into merits since the matter is pending in appeal by NCLAT. Findings arrived by CCI cannot be held to be without jurisdiction or manifest error at an interlocutory stage. While we are not interfering with the order of NCLAT, we request the tribunal to dispose of the appeal by March 31, 2023.” In today’s SC hearing, the bench assured to start hearing the matter in the last week of January 2024.