Google has filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court asking it to quash the December 14 order issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), LiveLaw reported on December 27, 2021. CCI's order, which sought a response from Google by December 31, was prompted by a plea filed by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) in October seeking interim relief from Google's new billing policy. In the same order, the Commission also rejected the company's request to reveal the identity of app developers and start-ups on whose behalf ADIF filed the plea. "We have filed a writ in Karnataka High Court regarding the interim relief application in the Google Play probe by the CCI, seeking to move forward in line with established due process principles. We respect the CCI’s investigative process and will continue to engage cooperatively and constructively in the interest of a fair investigation." — Google spokesperson to ET CCI on December 29 submitted an oral statement to the Court saying that no precipitative action will be taken against Google until the next date of hearing, which falls on January 5, 2022. What does Google argue in its petition? No urgency since billing policy delayed: In its petition, Google argued that there is no urgency in the matter since the company has voluntarily delayed the new billing policy to October 2022 instead of March 2022, the report said. Furthermore, Google argued that since ADIF filed its plea one year after the billing policy clarification was announced, "ADIF itself has disproved…
