Karnataka High Court junks Amazon-Flipkart plea against CCI probe

The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by Amazon and Flipkart challenging a court order permitting the Competition Commission of India to carry out a preliminary investigation into the alleged violation of the competition law.

A division bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy said the petitioners have no need to shy away from an inquiry if they were not involved in violations.

''The inquiry cannot be crushed at this stage.If the appellants aren't involved in violations of any provisions of the competition law, they should not feel shy in facing an inquiry by the Competition Commission of India,'' the bench observed.

It added that the appeals were devoid of merits and substance and deserved to be dismissed.

The CCI's January 2020 probe order followed a complaint by Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, whose members comprise many traders dealing in smart phones and related accessories.

Challenging the order, the two e-commerce giants approached the Karnataka High Court but a single judge bench of Justice P S Dinesh Kumar dismissed it saying that it would be unwise to prejudge the issues raised by the petitioners in these writ petitions at this stage and scuttle the investigation.

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