New Delhi, January 19
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain tech giant Google’s petition against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) direction refusing to stay the Competition Commission of India’s order imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on it.
Granting seven days to Google to deposit 10 per cent of the penalty imposed by the CCI, a Bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud asked the NCLAT to decide the tech giant’s appeal against the competition regulator’s order by March 31. It asked Google to approach the NCLAT within three working days from Thursday for seeking adjudication of its appeal against the CCI order.
On January 4, the CCI had refused an interim stay on an order of the competition regulator imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on Google and had asked it to deposit 10 per cent of the amount. The NCLAT had admitted Google’s challenge to the CCI, slapping the fine for abusing the dominant position of its Android smartphone operating system in the country. In October 2022, the CCI had asked Google to allow smartphone users on the Android platform to uninstall apps and let them select a search engine of their choice.
Meanwhile, Indian Internet firms have expressed optimism about finding clear space for their apps on Android devices with Google failing to find relief in the Supreme Court.
