The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay inquiry against e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart by the Anti-Competitive Commission for alleged Competition Law Violations, stating “Big Corporates like Amazon and Flipkart should be subject to transparency and inquiry.”
However, the bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and also comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Surya Kant, granted four more weeks to e-commerce giants to comply with the order for joining the investigation.
Earlier on July 23 this year, the High Court of Karnataka had upheld the Competition Commission of India’s decision to conduct an investigation through its Director General into whether they had entered into anti-competitive agreements in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.
Observing that the enquiry initiated by CCI cannot be crushed at the initial stage, the Bench described the approach of both the e-commerce majors as “an attempt to ensure that the enquiry does not attain finality.”
The Division Bench of Karnataka High Court, comprising Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Nataraj Rangaswamy, delivered the verdict while upholding the June 11 verdict of a Single-Judge Bench, which had upheld the CCI’s decision. Amazon and Flipkart had appealed against the Single-Judge order.
CCI had acted on a complaint filed by Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM), which had alleged that Amazon and Flipkart were giving preference to select sellers and offering deep discounts after entering into anti-competitive agreements.
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