New Delhi, Feb 9: The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on petitions filed by Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp challenging a Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalty of ₹213.14 crore over their privacy policy, scheduling the matter for February 23.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria, agreed to defer the hearing after being informed that senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the companies, was unwell. The court said it would take up the matter for consideration of interim relief on the next date.
The Bench also allowed a litigant represented by senior advocate Arvind Datar to be impleaded as a party in the case.
Earlier, on February 3, the Supreme Court had made sharp remarks on the data sharing practices of Meta and WhatsApp, observing that companies cannot “play with the right to privacy of citizens” in the name of technology or business models. The court had flagged concerns about market dominance and misuse of user data, stressing that the rights of “silent customers” digitally dependent and often unaware of data implications must be protected.
The appeals arise from a CCI order imposing a ₹213.14 crore penalty on WhatsApp and its parent company over their 2021 privacy policy. While the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on November 4, 2025, set aside the CCI’s five-year ban on data sharing with Meta for advertising purposes, it upheld the monetary penalty. The NCLAT later clarified that its ruling also covered data sharing for non-WhatsApp purposes, including both advertising and non-advertising uses.
The Supreme Court is also hearing a cross-appeal filed by the CCI, which has challenged the NCLAT decision allowing continued data sharing for advertising. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been made a party to the proceedings.
The case is being closely watched as it raises significant questions around data privacy, competition law and the extent of regulatory oversight over Big Tech platforms in India.