Synopsis
The Supreme Courtroom deferred to February 23 pleas by Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp against a CCI privateness penalty. A bench led by CJI Surya Kant adjourned the listening to after Kapil Sibal became said to be in unlucky health. The court docket said it will probably well go an period in-between expose on February 23 then.
ANIThe Supreme Courtroom on Monday deferred to February 23 pleas of Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp against a Competition Fee of India (CCI) expose imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore over privateness protection.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria became told that senior imply Kapil Sibal became in unlucky health and hence the listening to must aloof be adjourned.
The bench said it will probably well soak up the pleas for passing an period in-between expose on February 23.
It permitted a litigant represented by senior imply Arvind Datar to be made a celebration to the case.
On February 3, the bench made solid observations against Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp, announcing they could well additionally no longer “play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing” and alleged that they were making a monopoly in the market and committing theft of deepest knowledge of shoppers.
Decrying WhatsApp’s privateness protection, the bench referred to “silent customers” who were unorganised, digitally dependent and unaware of the implications of information-sharing insurance policies, and asserted, “We will not allow the rights of any citizen of this country to be damaged.”
WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms Inc.
The quit court docket became listening to the appeals of the 2 tech giants against a CCI expose that imposed a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on them over the privateness protection.
On November 4, 2025, the Nationwide Firm Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) place aside a fraction of a CCI expose that had banned WhatsApp from sharing knowledge with Meta Platforms Inc for promoting purposes for five years, but retained the Rs 213-crore penalty.
Later, the NCLAT clarified that its expose in the WhatsApp topic on privateness and consent safeguards also applies to person knowledge assortment and sharing for non-WhatsApp purposes, along side non-promoting and promoting.
The quit court docket said that it will probably well go an period in-between expose on February 9 and ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Data Abilities even be made a celebration to the appeals of the 2 companies.
The bench could well be seized of a defective-charm by the CCI, which assailed the NCLAT ruling to the extent that it allowed WhatsApp and Meta to proceed sharing customers’ knowledge for promoting purposes.
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