CCI Vs Flipkart, Amazon: SC Transfers 24 Seller Pleas To HC

SUMMARY

The SC clubbed all the pleas pending across multiple HCs and issued directions that the cases will now be heard together by the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka HC

The SC also issued directions to automatically transfer all such future petitions on the issue to the Karnataka HC

The bench was hearing the CCI’s petition to transfer 24 writ petitions, filed by sellers of Amazon and Flipkart, to either a single HC or the top court to expedite the process

The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday (January 6) reportedly transferred a clutch of petitions filed against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) by sellers of Amazon and Flipkart to a single-bench of the Karnataka High Court (HC).

As per Economic Times, the SC clubbed all the pleas pending across multiple HCs and issued directions that the cases will now be heard together by the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka HC.

“… It will be appropriate if all the petitions which are subject matter of this transfer petition are transferred for hearing to the High Court of Karnataka,” the Court ruled.

The bench, comprising Justices Ajay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, was hearing the CCI’s petition to transfer 24 writ petitions, filed by the sellers of the ecommerce giants, to either a single HC or the top court to expedite the process.

The petitions challenge the watchdog’s probe into the alleged anti-competitive practices of the two ecommerce giants. These pleas were filed in HCs of Delhi, Punjab & Haryana, Karnataka, Allahabad, among others.

The SC also issued directions to automatically transfer all such future petitions on the issue to the Karnataka HC.

“If similar petitions are hereafter instituted in any other HC, the same shall be also covered by this order,” the bench noted.

The directions came after Attorney General R Venkataramani informed the bench that five more petitions (three in the Karnataka HC and two in the Punjab and Haryana HC) have been filed. To this, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the sellers, argued that the petitioners were open to having their petitions heard by the Karnataka HC.

Thereafter, the SC clubbed the pleas and transferred them to a single-judge bench of Karnataka HC. This is in line with what the apex court said last month, when it observed that prima facie all the cases should be handled by the Karnataka HC.

At the heart of the matter is the CCI, earlier this year, internally finding Amazon and Flipkart guilty of violating competition laws by giving preference to only some sellers on their platforms. In its report, the watchdog had noted that this preference resulted in grabbing customer’s “attention” towards the preferred seller’s products more effectively.

Following this, multiple sellers of Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart filed petitions in HCs the country, challenging various aspects of the CCI’s probe.

In September, the Karnataka HC stayed further proceedings against Amazon, prompting all other HCs to pass similar orders.