Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court issued an order allowing the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to continue its probe into the platform.

According to PTI, the order would be tentatively heard on October 14 (Friday).

In May 2021, WhatsApp moved a single-judge bench in the Delhi High Court for a stay on the probe. However, the bench ruled in favour of the CCI. Following this, the instant messaging platform moved a two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court. The two-judge bench also ruled in favor of the CCI probe in August, declining to intervene any further.

While dismissing the pleas made by WhatsApp and its parent Meta, the Delhi High Court noted that the messaging platform’s privacy policy leaves the users in a ‘take it or leave it situation. It is prudent to mention here that after WhatsApp introduced its new privacy policy, it gave users 30 days to accept it or else lose their accounts.

WhatsApp wants CCI to stop its probe till the data privacy bill is implemented, as was made evident when it tracked back on limiting user functionality in May 2021.

WhatsApp has also repeatedly questioned CCI’s jurisdiction and methods used in the probe. At a hearing in July, Facebook argued that CCI did not even have prima facie material to begin a probe into the case, adding that CCI could not investigate the platform in a ‘creeping fashion.

The case dates back to March 2021, when the Indian antitrust watchdog ordered a probe into the privacy policy of the US-based instant messaging service, introduced in January 2021.

India is the largest market in the world for WhatsApp, where it has around 400 million users, as per third-party data source.