The bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, had already scheduled the cross-appeals for Thursday. However, they are unlikely to be heard immediately due to the bench handling part-heard matters.
![[Anti-Competitive Practices in the Android Mobile Device] "Arguments May Take 5-6 days": Google LLC Tells SC](https://i0.wp.com/lawchakra.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/image-2024-09-19T171142.556.png?resize=820%2C460&ssl=1)
New Delhi: On Thursday (Sep 19), Google LLC informed the Supreme Court that arguments concerning the company’s alleged anti-competitive practices in the Android mobile device market may require five to six days.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, had already scheduled the cross-appeals for Thursday. However, they are unlikely to be heard immediately due to the bench handling part-heard matters.
Last year, on March 29, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) delivered a mixed verdict on Google’s practices, upholding a fine of Rs 1,338 crore but setting aside conditions such as allowing third-party app stores on its Play Store.
The Supreme Court is currently addressing cross-appeals from both Google and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) challenging the appellate tribunal’s ruling.
At the start of the day’s proceedings, senior advocate Harish Salve, representing Google, noted that the case hearing could take five to six days.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) remarked, “The plea will retain its place on the board (list of business). Let’s see how things proceed… Let this matter begin. We will take it from there.”
Earlier in July, the Supreme Court had stated it would hear the cross-appeals from Google and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the second week of September.
The bench had appointed lawyer Sameer Bansal as the nodal counsel to compile common digital pleadings, in collaboration with legal teams from both sides, for smoother adjudication.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), in its judgment, had upheld the penalty imposed by the CCI on Google for abusing its dominant position in the Android market. However, the NCLAT overturned part of the CCI’s order, which had previously prohibited Google from restricting users from removing its pre-installed apps. Both Google and the CCI have challenged the NCLAT decision in the Supreme Court.
On July 7 last year, the top court first took up the appeals. In its 189-page verdict, the NCLAT upheld six of the CCI’s directives, including one requiring Google to offer users the option to choose their default search engine during the initial setup of the device. Another directive barred Google from forcing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to pre-install a suite of apps.
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The appellate tribunal instructed Google to comply with these directives and to deposit the imposed fine within 30 days.
It noted that “the impugned order of the Commission is upheld, except for the four directions.” Therefore, Google was “not entitled to any relief, except for the setting aside of those four directions.”
The NCLAT allowed Google to pay the remaining penalty amount (after adjusting for 10 percent already deposited under a previous order from January 4, 2023) within 30 days.
On October 20, 2022, the CCI fined Google Rs 1,337.76 crore for anti-competitive practices about Android mobile devices and directed the company to cease engaging in several unfair business practices.
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