Walmart’s Flipkart goes to India’s Supreme Court amid antitrust case sources

Authors: Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Walmart-owned Flipkart has appealed to India’s Supreme Court against a state court’s decision that allowed an antitrust investigation into the e-commerce company and its rival Amazon.com Inc to continue, three sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

Last week, the Karnataka High Court dismissed cases filed by Amazon and Flipkart seeking to quash the 2020 Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigation. The companies denied any wrongdoing, but the court said they “should not feel ashamed in the face of investigation.”

Flipkart filed an appeal to the Supreme Court on Tuesday challenging the decision, three people familiar with the proceedings said.

Further details of the challenge or Flipkart’s allegations were not immediately clear. The Supreme Court’s website shows that Flipkart has filed a lawsuit against CCI and other parties, without providing more details.

Flipkart did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to people familiar with the case, Amazon is also expected to appeal against the Supreme Court’s ruling.

The CCI investigation is another setback for Amazon and Flipkart, which are grappling with the prospect of tighter e-commerce regulations and accusations from retailers that the companies are circumventing Indian law by setting up complex business structures.

In this case, the companies face a number of charges, including exclusive marketing of mobile phones, promoting selected sellers on their websites and deep discounting practices that drive out competition.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)