Google Appeals To Supreme Court To Set Aside CII Directions

Google Appeals To Supreme Court To Set Aside CII Directions

Multinational tech giant Google has requested the Supreme Court to quash all directions given against the company by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The CCI had given Google 10 stringent directions, holding it guilty of abusing its dominance in the Android market, and imposed a fine of $161 million (Rs 1,336 crore), which the company paid.

On Monday, Google argued in the apex court that it has not misused its position in the market and should not be made liable to pay the fine. Along with this, the company has also sought permission to explain how users and app developers have benefited from Android.

In October last year, the CCI had also directed Google to remove restrictions placed on mobile manufacturers with respect to its Android operating system, which requires some of Google’s apps to be pre-installed on mobiles. About 97 percent of the 600 million smartphones in the country run on Android. In March this year, a tribunal had set aside four out of 10 directions given to the company, giving some relief to Google in the matter.

Now the company has appealed to the apex court to set aside the remaining CCI directions against it. The CCI has also appealed to the Supreme Court against the award of the tribunal and has sought cancellation of the relief granted to the company. However, no comment has been made by CCI in this regard reported amarujala.