BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court will on Thursday continue the hearings in response to a writ petition filed by e-commerce giant Amazon seeking an immediate stay on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI’s) January 13 probe. The CCI in its order had stipulated that business practices of e-commerce sites like Amazon’s and Flipkart’s need to be investigated after a traders’ body, Delhi Vyapar Manch (DVM), accused them of flouting the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms.
Amazon’s lawyers, according to sources, told the Karnataka High Court that the anti-trust watchdog had in an earlier directive in January had included several self-regulatory recommendations of the e-commerce companies. Global e-tailer also contested the allegations of traders about preferential treatment and selective partnerships with several businesses (mobile phone brands), and said the same did not merit any investigation.
It added that there were no special agreements with the brands as the launches which took place during the festival season were available on Amazon as well as e-commerce channels of these companies. Amazon further said that it had in no way influenced the pricing of the products on its website and had not resorted to deep discounting during the sale period.
In response to the allegations of DVM that the online marketplace owns various brands/entities in violation of FDI norms, Amazon maintained that it has not surpassed any such rules. Amazon said Cloudtail India, which sells a majority of the products on the marketplace, is owned by Infosys founder Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murty (76% stake).DVM, however, told the court that Amazon is facing many investigations into its alleged malpractice in the US, Europe and it is beyond their comprehension why Amazon is not letting the investigations of CCI be completed within a specific period of time.
4.5K police posts will be filled by March 2021: State
The state on Wednesday informed the Karnataka High Court that it will initiate the process to recruit 4,591 police personnel (592 police sub-inspectors and 4,000 police constables) by March 2021 end. The court was also informed that 1,109 posts (543 police sub-inspectors and 566 police constables) will be filled by the end of March 2022.
HC declines to entertain PIL on Bidar school
The division bench of Karnataka High Court has posted a PIL, questioning the sedition case against Shaheen Education Society in Bidar, before a single bench. The bench took the decision as the prayer made in the petition cannot be granted. The petitioners have sought the court to quash an FIR and subsequent proceedings against the school management.