Flipkart Appeals into Supreme Court Against Karnataka HC Order on CCI

The tug-of-war between the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and eCommerce giants Flipkart and Amazon doesn’t seem to end on the probe related to the law violations in smartphone sales. Flipkart has challenged the Karnataka High Court’s order of dismissing the plea of setting aside an investigation carried by CCI in the new development.

In response, Flipkart, a Walmart Inc’s entity, and Amazon.com Inc. have dragged the case into the Supreme Court of India against the resumption of an antitrust investigation into their business practices, according to the news source.Previously, CAIT sued Flipkart for violating and restructuring its business model. Reportedly, the CCI has been carrying out an investigation since January 2020, enacting the complaints indicating Flipkart and Amazon’s role in promoting select sellers on their eCommerce platforms and using heavy or unreal discounts to stifle competition. 

Both the companies had denied the charges and sought legal measures resulting in a halting investigation for more than a year until last week when the court-ordered to resume the inquiry dismissing the arguments of the evidence leakages by CCI.

Resultantly, Flipkart filed a fresh appeal in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka High Court’s decision on allowing it to resume the ongoing probe, demanding that the order is wrong and it must be put on hold.

In its legal filing, Flipkart argued that "Irreparable injury will be caused to the appellant if the investigation was to continue pending the present appeal.” The details have not been made public. It also urged the court to reject the initial CCI order for the investigation.

Amazon also has filed a similar challenge in this matter. The arguments will be heard by the top court by a two-judge panel this week.

When asked, Flipkart and CCI refused to respond for comment. Amazon, too has declined to comment on the fresh appeal.