Google vs CCI: SC to hear appeals from October 10

The Supreme Court on Friday set October 10 as the day for arguments to begin in a legal battle between Google and India's antitrust regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in March upheld key findings of the commission against the tech giant for abusing its dominant position in the Android ecosystem, including a penalty of around ₹1337 crore.

- Abraham Thomas

Appealing against the March 29 NCLAT order in the top court, Google questioned the tribunal's finding upholding six of the 10 non-monetary directions issued by CCI on October 20 claiming that there was no evidence of abuse. At the same time, CCI challenged the four conditions on which the tribunal gave relief to Google seeking reconsideration of the order.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud issued notice on the two appeals seeking response from both CCI and Google. Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the tech giant suggested having the matter on any specific day in September or October. For CCI, additional solicitor general (ASG) N Venkatraman appeared in Court.