NEW DELHI Reuters - Google on Thursday said that it was suing the Competition Commission of India CCI for leak of confidential CCI report into an antitrust investigation of the U.S. Tech giant.
The Times of India newspaper, and then Reuters, reported on Saturday that a CCI investigation had found Google abused the dominant position of its Android operating system in India, using its huge financial muscle to illegally hurt competitors.
Google said last week it looked forward to working with the CCI to demonstrate how Android has led to more competition and innovation, not less. In Thursday statement, the company said it had filed a legal challenge against the CCI in the High Court of Delhi to prevent any further unlawful disclosures of confidential findings. Google said it was protesting against the breach of confidence which affects Google's ability to defend itself and harms Google and its partners. We participated fully and maintained confidentiality throughout the investigative process, and we expect an equal level of confidentiality from institutions we engage with, its statement added.
The CCI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legal action.
A Google spokesman declined to comment on whether it was seeking cease and desist orders on further media coverage of the contents of the CCI report.
In 2019, the Indian Antitrust Authority ordered a probe in 2019, saying Google appeared to have leveraged its dominance to reduce device makers' ability to opt for alternate versions of its mobile operating system and force them to pre install Google apps.
Its 750 pages report subsequently found that the mandatory pre-installation of apps amounts to imposition of unfair condition on the device makers in violation of India's competition law.
The report, which has been seen by Reuters but is not public, found the company leveraged the position of its Play Store app store to protect its dominance.