SC agrees to hear plea of Google against NCLAT order

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea of US tech giant Google against an order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) refusing an interim stay on the competition regulator imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on it.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha took note of the submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the US firm, and said that it will list the plea for hearing on Monday.

The senior lawyer said that extraordinary directions have been passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the order has to be complied by January 19.

The NCLAT, on January 4, had refused an interim stay on an order of the competition regulator imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on Google and had asked it to deposit 10 per cent of the amount.

The NCLAT admitted the search giant’s challenge to the CCI slapping a Rs 1,337.76 crore fine for abusing the dominant position of its Android smartphone operating system in the country.

The CCI in October last year had asked Google to allow smartphone users on the Android platform to uninstall apps and let them select a search engine of their choice.