Court Refuses To Stay Notice Issued To WhatsApp By Competition Commission

The Division Bench Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Justice Jasmeet Singh said that "we would only urge the DG, CCI to bear in mind that investigation against the appellant is under judicial consideration before a Division Bench of this court."

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to stay the notice dated June 4, 2021, to WhatsApp by the Director-General of Competition Commission of India (CCI). The Division Bench Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Justice Jasmeet Singh said that "we would only urge the DG, CCI to bear in mind that investigation against the appellant is under judicial consideration before a Division Bench of this court." The bench also underlined that, in our view, there is no doubt that the issuance of impugned notice by the DG is a step in furtherance of the investigation commenced in the suo-motu case, in which the investigation is a subject matter of the challenge in the present Letter Patents Appeal (LPA). "...we do not consider it appropriate to stay the operation of impugned notice dated 04.06.2021, at this stage..." says the Delhi High Court.