SC sends all Amazon, Flipkart petitions to Karnataka HC to avoid conflicting orders

The Supreme Court Monday transferred a batch of petitions related to alleged anti-competitive practices by Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart e-commerce platform to the Karnataka High Court's single-judge bench. The decision will minimise the scope of potentially conflicting rulings from various courts on the same subject.

The petitions filed against Amazon-owned Cloudtail India and other entities, earlier pending across multiple HCs, will now be heard together by the Dharwad bench of the Karnataka HC.

A bench, led by Justice Ajay S Oka, said the "issue involved in the subject matter" of the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) transfer petition is substantially the same as is at present being heard by the single judge of Karnataka High Court.

"Therefore, it will be appropriate if all the petitions which are subject matter of this transfer petition are transferred for hearing to the High Court of Karnataka," it said.

The apex court also directed that any future petitions on the issue be automatically transferred to the Karnataka HC, thus restraining other HCs from entertaining further petitions on the issue.

"If similar petitions are hereafter instituted in any other HC, the same shall be also covered by this order," the bench said.

While Attorney General R Venkataramani informed the bench that five more petitions - three in the Karnataka HC and two in the Punjab and Haryana HC - have been filed, senior counsel AM Singhvi argued that the petitioners (companies before the HCs) were agreeable to have their petitions heard by the Karnataka HC.

In 2020, the CCI had found prima facie merit in Delhi Vyapar Sangh's allegations about violations of the Competition Act, 2002, by Amazon and Flipkart relating to sale and purchase of mobile phones. It alleged that the online retailers indulged in exclusive arrangements, deep discounting and preferential listings in violation of competition law.

The CCI had ordered a probe by the Director General, which was challenged by Amazon and Flipkart. In September, the Karnataka HC stayed further proceedings against Amazon, prompting all other high courts to pass similar orders.

The CCI had preferred bunching together all pleas on the matter in the Delhi HC if the apex court decides to consolidate the pleas under one high court. It believed that such a step will "minimise any scope of a conflicting ruling on this issue among different high courts."