In a ruling favouring the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday allowed the competition watchdog to continue its proceedings against Intel’s India-specific warranty policy.
While dismissing Intel’s writ petition as devoid of any merits, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday also imposed a cost of ₹10 lakh on the petitioners (Intel Technology India Pvt Ltd and Intel Corporation), sources close to the development said. The cost was imposed as Intel was seen to engage in dilatory tactics to prevent CCI proceedings in the case.
Earlier, CCI had directed an investigation by its DG (investigation) into whether Intel’s India-specific warranty policy has potentially resulted in denial of market access to parallel importers and resellers of Intel Boxed Microprocessors (Boxed Processors) in India, and whether such policy may lead to the risk of higher prices for Boxed Processors in India.
The CCI direction emanated from a 2019 case filed by Matrix Info Systems Pvt Ltd before the Commission.
Intel had challenged the CCI order directing investigations by the DG (Investigations) before the Karnataka High Court.
The court had in November 2019 granted an interim stay in the matter and the proceedings before CCI had been pending since then.
“After a detailed round of arguments by the parties to the petition, the judgment was pronounced today (August 23, 2022). The Karnataka High Court dismissed the writ petition as it was devoid of any merits. The court directed that the proceedings before the CCI should continue. A cost of ₹10 lakh was imposed on the petitioners,” sources said.