SC to hear Google's plea against CCI fine of Rs 1,337.76 crore on April 30

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Google and Addl Solicitor-General Venkatraman appearing for CCI said it will take both sides 4 days to argue the case as there are new points to be raised

The Supreme Court on Monday said that it would start hearing from April 30 Google's appeal against the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) upholding a Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for anti-trust violations.

The hearing has now been pushed because of the Constitution benches.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for Google and Additional Solicitor-General Venkatraman appearing for CCI said it will take both sides four days to argue the case as there are new points to be raised. Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud orally indicated that the case will be listed on April 30.

The Competition Commission of India’s (CCI’s) on October 20, 2022, penalised the tech giant and asked it to pay Rs 1,337.76 crore for practices related to Android devices. Google was earlier given three months to comply with the CCI’s directive and its deadline was January 19, 2023. The tech giant then moved the NCLAT on December 22, 2022, and on January 4, 2023, the appellate tribunal asked Google to pay 10 per cent of Rs 1,337.76 crore in three weeks and posted the matter for hearing on April 3. Seeking relief, Google then knocked on the doors of the apex court.

After the apex court refused to grant interim relief to Google on January 19, 2023, the matter was sent back to NCLAT for the final order.

The NCLAT in March 2023 upheld the penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore imposed on Google by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). However, it set aside four directions issued by the commission.

Both Google and CCI challenged this order.