NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on January 16 an appeal by Google against a decision by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which had refused to stay a Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty imposed on it by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for alleged anti-competitive practices.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and P S Narasimha allowed a plea for urgent listing made by senior advocate A M Singhvi on behalf of Google.
Singhvi said extraordinary directions were passed by the CCI. The compliance date has been fixed as January 19, through the appeal was filed in December.
The NCLAT had on January 4 saw no urgency to pass an interim order, after noting that Google filed the appeal in December only, though the order by the CCI was passed in October.
It had directed the Google to deposit 10% of the fine amount.
The CCI had on October 20, 2022 imposed a whopping penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on the company for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in relation to Android mobile devices and ordered the internet major to cease and desist from various unfair business practices.
Within a week, the Competition Commission had again slapped a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on the internet major for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.
