New Delhi, February 22 The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear pleas filed by Meta and WhatsApp against an order by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposing a penalty of ₹213.14 crore due to their privacy policy.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi is likely to hear the matter.
On February 3, the bench had made strong observations against Meta Platforms Inc and WhatsApp, stating that they could not "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing" and alleged that they were creating a monopoly in the market and committing theft of private information of customers.
The bench criticized WhatsApp's privacy policy, referring to "silent customers" who were disorganized, digitally dependent, and unaware of the implications of data-sharing 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 top court was hearing the appeals of the two tech giants against a CCI order that imposed a penalty of ₹213.14 crore on them over the privacy policy.
On November 4, 2025, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) overturned a section of a CCI order that had banned WhatsApp from sharing data with Meta Platforms Inc for advertising purposes for five years, but retained the ₹213-crore penalty.
Later, the NCLAT clarified that its order in the WhatsApp matter on privacy and consent safeguards also applies to user data collection and sharing for non-WhatsApp purposes, including non-advertising and advertising.
The top court said that it would pass an interim order on February 9 and ordered that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology also be made a party to the appeals of the two companies.
The bench is also seized of a cross-appeal by the CCI, which assailed the NCLAT ruling to the extent that it allowed WhatsApp and Meta to continue sharing users' data for advertising purposes.