On September 19, the Supreme Court of India addressed the ongoing antitrust case against Google.
It was represented by Senior advocate Harish Salve.
The CCI’s directive also asked Google to permit sideloaded apps which would allow third-party app stores on the Playstore.
Google has been dealing with a difficult time for a while now, both in India and other countries. It has found itself in the middle of another legal battle, this time in India. The case, as you might have expected, is an antitrust case about its anti-competitive practices related to its Android mobile devices. As per the case, Google has created a monopoly in the market that prevents other players from growing.
Yesterday, on September 19, 2024, the Supreme Court of India addressed the ongoing antitrust case against Google. The California-based tech giant was represented by Senior advocate Harish Salve. Defending Google, he said that the hearing could take at least five to six days. However, the hearing was postponed as the bench, which was led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, needed to address other pending matters.
This comes after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) found Google guilty of abusing its dominant position within the Android ecosystem. For this, a big fine of Rs 1,337.76 crore was levied on the tech giant. CCI further asked Google to allow its users to choose their default search engine during device setup. It even prohibited it from influencing manufacturers into pre-installing certain apps.
Further, the CCI’s directive also asked Google to permit sideloaded apps which would allow third-party app stores on the Play Store, and facilitate the sharing of APIs. Google did not take this well and appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which ruled in March 2023 that the company need not comply with four of the CCI’s orders. But it still asked the tech giant to pay the fine within 30 days.
This didn’t go down well and both the CCI and Google subsequently approached the Supreme Court to contest the NCLAT’s mixed verdict. To this, the Supreme Court announced in July 2023 that it would hear the case in September. And now since it has been delayed further, only time will tell what’s in store for Google in India.
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Mustafa Khan
Mustafa is new on the block and is a tech geek who is currently working with Digit as a News Writer. He tests the new gadgets that come on board and writes for the news desk. He has found his way with words and you can count on him when in need of tech advice. No judgement. He is based out of Delhi, he’s your person for good photos, good food recommendations, and to know about anything GenZ. View Full Profile
