Google on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court against the Competition Commission of India for allegedly leaking a confidential report to the media, reported Reuters. The report is related to an inquiry conducted by the Competition Commission of India’s investigative unit into Google’s Android smartphone agreements.
The bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh will hear the matter on Friday, reported PTI.
The tech giant said in a statement it has not yet received the report, adding that the alleged leak impairs the company’s ability to defend itself.
The report, which was accessed by Reuters, said that Google had abused the dominant position of its android operating system in India to illegally hurt competitors.
The antitrust body had ordered the inquiry in 2019 after prima-facie finding that competition norms were allegedly violated, reported PTI.
In its statement, Google said that the findings of the report do not reflect Competition Commission of India’s final decision and that it is just an interim procedural step. “Google has not yet had the opportunity to review the DG’s [Director General] findings, much less submit its defence of any allegations”.
The company has sought preventing any “further disclosure of the confidential findings” of the antitrust body’s investigation. A Google spokesperson said that protecting confidential information was fundamental to any governmental investigation.
“We cooperated fully and maintained confidentiality throughout the investigative process, and we hope and expect the same level of confidentiality from the institutions we engage with,” the spokesperson added.
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