The Supreme Court observed on Monday (January 16) that Google “contrived emergency” in seeking a stay on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) penalty order for its market dominance in the Android ecosystem by approaching the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) very late.
Google filed an application with the NCLAT at the end of December, challenging the CCI’s October 2022 order, which imposed a penalty of INR 1,337.76 Cr on the tech giant. The penalty was imposed by the competition watchdog on the US tech giant for requiring OEMs to instal Google Mobile Suite on every Android mobile device. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud informed Google’s counsel, Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, that the CCI order was issued on October 20, but Google filed its appeal much later. “These are all manufactured emergencies. “You could have filed an appeal sooner,” CJI Chandrachud told LiveLaw.
