Google sues India competition regulator for leaking confidential investigation report News
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Google sues India competition regulator for leaking confidential investigation report

Google LLC on Friday filed a writ petition against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the Delhi High Court for the alleged leak of a confidential report. The report was prepared after a two-year investigation ordered by the CCI in April 2019 over concerns pertaining to Google’s alleged abuse of its dominant position in the mobile operating system related markets through its various services.

Google contended that the CCI had leaked the report prepared by the Director-General (DG) which contained sensitive business information about Google to various media outlets such as The Times of India, Economic Times, Reuters, etc. The report consisted of about 750 pages and Google is yet to receive a copy of this confidential report.

The report which surfaced had claimed that the CCI investigation found Google guilty of stifling competition in mobile operating systems. It suggests that Google has been imposing and forcing one-sided contracts on Android devices as well as app makers to ensure that its own products and apps maintain primacy in consumer usage, and come preference, as suggested by an exclusive report by the  Times of India.

The CCI has denied all the allegations put forth by Google and has suggested that Google pursue cases against the concerned media houses who leaked the DG’s report. The CCI further said that it has followed Section 57 of the Competition Act, 2002, which provides that information of any enterprise obtained by the CCI shall not be disclosed without the permission of the enterprise in writing.

The court said that it cannot form an opinion on the zone of confidentiality unless it goes through the impugned order and has refused to grant any interim relief to Google. The matter has been adjourned to Monday for further hearing.

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