CCI Powers To Review Or Recall Its Orders

INTRODUCTION

Delhi High Court¹ has given yet another boost to the powers of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) when it held that the CCI has inherent powers to review or recall its order.

FACTS

A Complaint was filed before the CCI that Google Inc. has abused its dominant position in the internet advertising space by promoting its vertical search services like Youtube, Google News, Google Maps, etc. In other words, these services would appear predominantly during a search result on Google, irrespective of their popularity or relevance. On April 15th, 2014 the CCI ordered Director General (DG) under Section 26(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) to investigate into the affairs of Google Inc. As per Section 26(1), the CCI orders an investigation on the basis of prima-facie opinion and at this stage, the Act does not provide any right of being heard to the parties.