BENGALURU: In a setback to Amazon and Flipkart, the Karnataka high court has paved the way for conducting an investigation as to whether the e-commerce majors had violated provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 by entering into anti-competitive agreements.
Amazon and Flipkart had challenged the January 20, 2013 order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to conduct an investigation through its director general, in response to a complaint filed by Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh.
Dismissing their petitions, Justice P S Dinesh Kumar has noted that the “informant has filed information and appended material papers, which, according to the informant, support its allegations”.
The judge pointed out that the additional solicitor general has submitted that CCI has also called upon the informant to file a certificate under section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act and the penalty for incorrect information is up to Rs 1 crore under section 44 of the Competition Act.