The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday began hearing tech giant Google’s appeal against the order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the Android case. It has said that all interventions will be heard after arguments by both Google and CCI are completed.
Earlier, US-based Epic Games has filed a case in the NCLAT contending that Google has not complied with the CCI’s order.
A bench comprising NCLAT chairperson Ashok Bhushan and member (technical) Alok Srivastava on Wednesday started marathon hearings on the case, which will continue on Thursday as well.
Contending that Google’s Android operating system, which was launched in 2007-08 has contributed greatly to the growth of the mobile industry and competition, senior advocate appearing for the tech giant said Android has been an exceptional success story, adding that the CCI, without any legal basis, has found fault with the ecosystem.
“Because of the pro-competitive policies of Google Android, we have a market with 1,100 OEMs globally and 15,000 models and it has led to millions of applications being developed,” he said.
The CCI, in its order dated October 20, 2022, had imposed a `1,337 crore monetary penalty on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem and had issued a cease-and-desist order against Google from indulging in anti-competitive practices. Following this, Google had filed a plea with NCLAT, which had declined to give an interim stay.
It then approached the Supreme Court, which had also declined to stay the CCI order but had directed the NCLAT to decide on Google’s appeal by March 31.