The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has granted requests from WhatsApp and Meta to remove confidential commercial information from its recent judgment that upheld a substantial penalty imposed by India's competition watchdog.
Court Orders Removal of Sensitive Information
On Tuesday, the appellate tribunal approved applications from both technology companies seeking to protect their confidential business details from public disclosure. The bench comprising Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka directed that specific portions of the judgment marked as confidential be removed from publicly accessible versions.
According to the court's ruling, the confidential sections highlighted in blue within the parties' submissions will be excised from the judgment available on the NCLAT website and from certified copies. The bench further clarified that no inspection of these redacted portions would be permitted to anyone.
Separate Requests from WhatsApp and Meta
During the proceedings, counsel representing WhatsApp specifically requested redaction of confidential information contained on pages 194-196 of the judgment. The Competition Commission of India (CCI), which had originally imposed the penalty, raised no objections to this request, leading the bench to approve the removal.
Meta Platforms, the parent company of WhatsApp, made a similar application concerning pages 200 to 202 of the same judgment. The company clarified that only specific segments highlighted in blue within certain paragraphs required removal, not the entire pages. With the CCI again expressing no opposition, the tribunal directed that the identified portions be removed from all public versions of the document.
Background of the November 4 Judgment
The original NCLAT judgment delivered on November 4, 2025 had upheld the CCI's findings that both WhatsApp and Meta had abused their dominant position in India's Over-The-Top (OTT) messaging services market. The tribunal agreed with the competition regulator's conclusion that the companies had enforced unfair data-sharing terms through WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy.
The court found that WhatsApp users were effectively compelled to accept the updated privacy policy, which permitted broader sharing of their personal data across Meta's various platforms. This practice was deemed to violate Section 4(2)(a)(i) of the Competition Act, which prohibits dominant enterprises from imposing unfair conditions.
The tribunal also noted the common ownership and control between Meta and WhatsApp, justifying the imposition of a joint penalty. The judgment explicitly stated: "The penalty imposed of ₹213.14 crore only (Rupees Two Hundred Thirteen Crores and Fourteen Lakhs only) upon Meta is upheld."
This case represents a significant development in India's competition law landscape, particularly concerning digital platforms and data privacy issues. The partial redaction of the judgment now balances transparency requirements with the protection of legitimate commercial secrets.
