Madras High Court restrains Google from delisting Bharat Matrimony and 13 other apps from Play Store

The Madras High Court has temporarily restrained Google from delisting matrimony.com, which is operated by Bharat Matrimony, along with 13 other digital companies on its play store. A two-judge bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu granted the interim injunction while hearing the ongoing final arguments over a batch of appeals filed by Bharat Matrimony and others, who were challenging a single-judge bench order denying the relief earlier, according to a New Indian Express report.

A single judge of the High Court on August 8 dismissed 14 out of the 16 pleas of Indian start-ups and tech companies, which included Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com and Unacademy, against Google's app billing policy. However, while dismissing the petitions, Justice S Sounthar said that this issue comes under the jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the remedy available under the Competition Act is much more comprehensive.

The court held that since the petitioners allege abuse of dominant position by Google, the CCI has jurisdiction to adjudicate on the same. However, the single-judge bench had rejected Google’s plea that the lawsuits should be filed in California, United States.