HC refuses to stay CCI probe against WhatsApp privacy policy
23 Jun 2021 16:11:18
New Delhi, June 23: Giving the major blow to WhatsApp and Facebook, Delhi high court on Wednesday refused to stay the order on the Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe against 'WhatsApp's Privacy Policy.
A vacation bench of Justices Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Jasmeet Singh pronounced the order. They said there is no doubt that the issuance of impugned notice by the DG is a step in furtherance of the investigation commenced in the suo-motu case, in which the investigation is a subject matter of the challenge in the present Letter Patents Appeal (LPA).
The bench also added that " For the foregoing reason, we do not consider it appropriate to stay the operation of impugned notice dated June 8, at this stage."
The court further said that "we would only urge the DG, CCI to bear in mind that investigation against the appellant is under judicial consideration before a Division Bench of this court."
Meanwhile, CCI has assured the Delhi High Court that no major steps will be taken against the companies before the July 9 hearing as a report will be prepared by then.
In march CCI ordered a probe into the updated privacy policy of WhatsApp for breaching the antitrust law. In the statement,CCI has said that WhatsApp had violated competition laws “through its exploitative and exclusionary conduct ... in the garb of policy update.”
“CCI is of prima facie opinion that the ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ nature of privacy policy and terms of service of WhatsApp and the information-sharing stipulations mentioned therein, merit a detailed investigation in view of the market position and market power enjoyed by WhatsApp,” stated the CCI order.
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