Our duty is to ensure fair competition, CCI tells Karnataka High Court

DVM counsel calls relationship between Amazon and sellers 'tentacles of octopus'

Counsel for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Delhi Vyapar Mahasangh (DVM) on Thursday defended the watchdog’s order to initiate a probe against e-commerce firms, including Amazon and Flipkart, in the Karnataka High Court. Amazon had moved high court challenging CCI’s order.
 
The matter pertains to a complaint filed by DVM, which alleged that these players were giving deep discounts on online sales of smartphones, and cherry-picking sellers. In its petition, Amazon made CCI, DVM and Flipkart respondents.
 
Senior lawyer Harish Narasappa, appearing for CCI, told the court that it was the watchdog’s duty to ensure that