The appeal is against the High Court decision to uphold a Single Judge order dismissing the pleas filed by Amazon and Flipkart challenging the CCI probe for alleged competition law violations in smartphone sales.
Flipkart has moved the Supreme Court against the July 23 order of the Karnataka High Court that refused to set aside a probe ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) into the e-commerce firm and its rival Amazon.
The appeal is against the High Court decision to uphold a Single Judge order dismissing the pleas filed by Amazon and Flipkart challenging the CCI probe for alleged competition law violations in smartphone sales on the two websites.
A Division Bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Natraj Rangaswamy had passed the order in a batch of appeals moved by the e-commerce giants against a June 11 order of a Single Judge of the High Court.
While dismissing the plea, the Bench had held,
"By no stretch of imagination can inquiry be quashed at this stage...Appellants should not be afraid of investigation of CCI...In the considered opinion of the Court, appeals filed by appellants are devoid of merit and deserved to be dismissed..."
Amazon had approached the Karnataka High Court against a CCI order which had called for a Director General (DG) investigation into allegations of anti-competitive conduct in the online sale of smartphones on its platform.
The informant before the CCI, Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM), had levelled allegations of predatory pricing, deep discounting, preferential seller listing, and exclusive partnerships, among others, against Amazon and Flipkart.
DVM is an organisation whose members comprise traders from many micro, small and medium enterprises, and rely on trade of smartphones and related accessories.