SC declines to interfere in CCI probe against Amazon, Flipkart
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday declined to interfere with Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation against e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart for alleged competition law violations.
The apex court extended the time by four weeks for the companies to join the investigation. The SC bench comrising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices Vineet Saran and Surya Kant said, "We see no reason to interfere in order. Seeing that time granted is expiring on 9 August, we extend it by 4 weeks".
The bench further said that the CCI enquiry must go on. However, the bench accepted the request made on behalf of Flipkart by Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi for extending the time for reply to CCI.
Last month, the Karnataka High Court (HC) quashed Amazon India and Flipkart’s plea against the investigation by antitrust CCI, regarding alleged violations of the competition law. CCI has commissioned a probe against their business practices, in January 2020.
CCI initiated a probe against Amazon and Flipkart after the Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM), a group of micro, small and medium enterprise (SME) owners, in 2019 submitted a plea demanding a probe. The group alleged that the e-commerce giants are abusing their market dominance and giving preferential listing and deep discounting on products sold by select vendors in which they control indirect stakes.
