The petition sought to retain an notice issued by the Competition Commission of India asking them to submit certain documents regarding the investigation into the new WhatsApp privacy policy.
The Delhi High Court has rejected a new application by Facebook and WhatsApp to put hold on a notice issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) asking them to submit certain documents regarding the investigation into the new WhatsApp privacy policy.
Chief Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani and Jasmeet Singh said a similar request for further action had already been lodged by WhatsApp and Facebook before the regular bench hearing the first case.(ads2)
It was noted that no temporary support on WhatsApp and its Facebook owner was provided by the regular Bench of the High Court on the last day of the May 6 hearing.
"For this past reason, we do not consider it necessary to take effect on this notice dated June 04, 2021," said Bench Vacation.
The Supreme Court, however, said there was "no doubt" that the issuance of the June 4 notice by the Director-General of the CCI was a step forward in furthering the investigation which began at the behest of the competition.
Additional Attorney General Aman Lekhi, representing the CCI, said it would take a long time to prepare the report based on the information obtained by way of notice.
Mr Lekhi said the report would not be finalized at least before the next hearing before the regular bench on July 9.
A new Facebook and WhatsApp application has been made in a pending case filed by those who challenged the CCI's March 24 directive directing an investigation into WhatsApp's new privacy policy.
Facebook and WhatsApp are seeking court intervention to keep the CCI's June 4 notice asking them to provide certain details for the purpose of its investigation.
WhatsApp said their new privacy policy went into effect on May 15. It also clarified that it would not start deleting the accounts of those people who did not receive it and would try to encourage them to sign in.(ads1)
CCI, on the other hand, has said it faces a privacy policy for instant messaging app that could lead to "excessive data collection" of consumers, use and distribution of data in a competitive environment.
The CCI said the current order of inquiry was designed to measure whether the availability of data could lead to harassment of a senior position. It was not concerned about the secrecy of the matter as the Supreme Court had already taken it, it said.
Posts
