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Google today moved the Delhi High Court against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for allegedly leaking to the media a confidential interim fact-finding report submitted by the Director General’s (DG) office to the CCI relating to an ongoing investigation into Google’s Android smartphone agreements.

Google has filed a writ petition seeking redress in this matter, specifically protesting against the breach of confidence stating that it impairs Google’s ability to defend itself, and harms Google and its partners.

Reportedly, the fact finding interim report submitted by the DG’s office to the CCI on September 18, found Google guilty of using practices to suppress competition to maintain dominance in several areas it operates including music (Youtube), search engine (Chrome) and app store (Play Store) among others.

The matter was mentioned today by Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi before the division bench of Chief justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh for early listing, and is listed for hearing tomorrow before Justice Rekha Palli's bench.

Google has said that the report was leaked on September 18, 2021 and the DG’s findings do not reflect the final decision of the CCI and the submission of the investigation report is an interim procedural step.

It further said that it has not yet had the opportunity to review the DG’s findings, much less submit its defence of any allegations.

Commenting on the petition before the High court, a spokesperson of Google said “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”.