Delhi High Court on Wednesday quashed an FIR against e-commerce platform Flipkart for allegedly conniving with unauthorised sellers to sell fake cosmetic products of an international brand.

Justice Asha Menon said the registration of an FIR against Flipkart would lead to a miscarriage of justice while clarifying that the investigating agency was free to carry out a further probe to ascertain the identity of the unauthorised sellers.

The FIR was registered in Delhi in August 2020.Flipkart sought quashing of the FIR on the ground that it was an “intermediary” and the IT Act provided a “safe harbour” to it concerning liabilities arising from posting of material by third parties on its platforms. The judge stated that unless an active role was disclosed in the commission of the offences, an e-commerce platform could claim protection as an “intermediary”.