Flipkart challenges Karnataka High Court order in Supreme Court

Flipkart challenges Karnataka High Court order in Supreme Court

Flipkart on July 23 has challenged in the Supreme Court (SC) the Karnataka High Court ruling disallowing setting aside of a Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe into Flipkart and its rival Amazon.

A single Judge had dismissed Flipkart and Amazon's pleas challenging the CCI investigation into alleged violations of competition law in smartphone sales by them. The Karnataka High Court refused to set aside this single Judge order after which Flipkart approached the SC against the Karnataka HC ruling.A division bench of the Karnataka High Courtconstituted by Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Natraj Rangaswamy disallowed setting aside of the single Judge order dated June 11.

The bench dismissed the plea and said, "By no stretch of imagination can inquiry be quashed at this stage... Appellants should not be afraid of investigation by the CCI... In the considered opinion of the Court, appeals filed by appellants are devoid of merit and deserve to be dismissed..."

A Director General (DG) investigation into the alleged anti-competitive conduct of Flipkart and Amazon had been called for by the CCI after the informant, Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM), levelled allegations of predatory pricing, deep discounting, preferential seller listing and exclusive partnerships against the e-commerce majors. Traders from many MSMEs make up the DVM; they depend on the trade of smartphones and related accessories.