The Supreme Court on Monday mandated that all pending cases involving e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart, related to an ongoing Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation, be transferred to the Karnataka High Court. This directive came as the top court responded to a plea from the CCI, which sought to centralize the litigation previously spread across various high courts.
Justices Abhay S Oka and Manmohan issued the order during a hearing where they entertained the CCI’s request for the transfer of multiple petitions from high courts in Allahabad, Madras, Telangana, Punjab & Haryana, Delhi, and Karnataka. The consolidation to the Karnataka High Court aims to streamline the legal proceedings regarding the alleged business malpractices of the two e-commerce platforms.
“Issue notice. Prima facie, we are of the view that all cases, which are pending in various High Courts, should be transferred to Karnataka High Court for hearing,” stated the bench. The matter is scheduled for further discussion on January 6, 2025. However, the justices instructed the Karnataka High Court to refrain from proceeding with the hearings of these petitions until further notice.
Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the CCI, expressed no objection to the Karnataka High Court hearing the case. The fair trade regulator initiated this probe against Amazon and Flipkart following allegations of deep discounting and preferential treatment towards certain sellers, which emerged from complaints by the Delhi Vyapar Mahasang—a trade association representing numerous traders in smartphones and related accessories.
