The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) will on November 28 begin hearing Google’s plea against the CCI imposing Rs 936.44-crore penalty on the tech giant for abusing its dominant position with respect to Play Store policies.

This comes after one of its judicial members, Justice Rakesh Kumar, recused himself from hearing the plea on April 17.

The matter was listed on Monday before an NCLAT bench comprising chairman Justice Ashok Bhushan and Alok Srivastava, which directed the parties, including the contesting start-ups and the Competition Commission of India to file their replies within four weeks. It also gave two weeks time to Google for filing rejoinders, if any.

The appellate tribunal has directed to list the matter on November 28 for hearing.

On April 17 this year, an NCLAT bench comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Alok Srivastava had ordered Google’s appeal to be listed before another bench of which Justice Kumar was not a party.

On October 25, 2022, the CCI had slapped a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position for its Play Store policies.

The regulator also directed the company to cease and desist from unfair business practices and carry out various measures to address the anti-competitive issues within a defined timeline.

This was challenged by Google before the NCLAT, which is an appellate tribunal for the orders passed by fair trade regulator CCI.

On January 11 this year, the NCLAT bench comprising Justice Kumar and Srivastava had declined to grant interim relief to Google, seeking a stay on the penalty.