Google can approach court if there are further leaks about CCI's fact-finding report: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Monday gave Google the liberty to approach it if there is any further leak in the media about a confidential interim fact-finding report submitted by the Director General's office to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) relating to an ongoing probe into the company's Android smartphone agreements.
 
The Director General is the investigating arm of the CCI.
 
Last week, the tech giant had filed a writ petition in the court against the leak of CCI's report pertaining to the investigation against the company.
 
The CCI told the court that the leak being alleged by Google has not happened from the anti-trust body. The court took on record the statement made by the CCI that no confidential information has been leaked regarding the investigation.
 
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The court also noted that the CCI, in its meeting held on September 23, had already taken note of the contentions raised by Google and had recommended the formation of a fact-finding committee.
 
Google had called the leak of report a breach of confidence which impairs its "ability to defend itself and harms Google and its partners." The company, in a statement last week, had said that it had not received or reviewed the confidential report till then.
 
"We are deeply concerned that the Director General's Report, which contains our confidential information in an ongoing case, was leaked to the media while in the CCI's custody...Protecting confidential information is fundamental to any governmental investigation, and we are pursuing our legal right to seek redress and prevent any further unlawful disclosures," a Google spokesperson had said.
 
Media reports had said that DG had found that Google indulged in unfair business practices in relation to Android.
 
After prima-facie finding alleged violation of competition norms, CCI, in early 2019, had ordered a detailed probe against Google in this regard.

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