The Competition Commission of India told the Delhi high court on Friday that Google’s plea against the alleged leak of confidential probe information was wholly misplaced and an attempt to frustrate the proceedings related to its Android smartphone agreements.
Additional solicitor general N. Venkataraman, representing CCI, stated that the commission stood by the legal obligation with respect to maintenance of confidentiality and clarified that there was no lapse on the part of the commission.
“There are accusations against a government body and there is not a word (in Google’s affidavit) showing when and how it was done... They are trying to frustrate the proceedings. If they are aggrieved, they should file a suit against (the media),” he said.
“They want the process to the thwarted,” said ASG Venkataraman who also informed the court that one of the officials of Google even wrote to the CCI chairperson, saying “we will sue you”.
Justice Rekha Palli stated that she did not appreciate the US-based tech giant directly approaching the authority.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Google, highlighted that the allegedly leaked information was only in possession with the director-general who further passes it on to the CCI and no other person, including the parties, are privy to it.