On Monday, the Apex Court has refused to hear a petition filed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) seeking directions to vacate a stay order issued by the Karnataka high court on its investigation against Flipkart and Amazon.

However, the apex court asked the high court to decide on CCI’s plea to probe into the alleged anti-competitive practices by the e-commerce giants within six weeks. The SC bench headed by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar also asked CCI to approach a division bench of the high court to seek relief.

Following the complaints filed by traders’ bodies, including Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh, CCI on 13 January, had ordered a probe against Flipkart and Amazon for alleged malpractices, including deep discounting and tie-ups with preferred sellers on their platforms. Subsequently, the two e-tailers moved the Karnataka high court seeking a stay and quashing of the probe order.

Amazon had contended in its petition before the HC that the CCI’s investigative order was passed “without application of mind” and would cause irreparable loss/injury to the goodwill/reputation of the company if an investigation is allowed.

On 14 February, a single-judge bench of the high court had granted an interim stay on the investigation order. Arguing for CCI, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Monday submitted before the apex court that the probe order was administrative in nature and would not affect the rights of any party.

However, after the court refused to interfere with the high court’s order, Mehta urged the court to keep the petition pending. He said there were several wider issues related to this case.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the e-commerce firms, opposed the plea while apprising the bench of procedural gaps. He said the CCI has approached the court after a delay of 200 days and should have approached the high court before the apex court.