In a significant interim relief for Google, the Supreme Court has stayed the operation of the Madras High Court’s June 11, 2025 judgment, which had permitted a civil suit filed by edtech company Testbook to proceed against Google and its affiliated entities. The order was passed by a Bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan, effectively halting further proceedings in the suit pending final adjudication.
The underlying dispute concerns Google’s billing policy on the Play Store. The Madras High Court, by the impugned judgment, had declined to reject Testbook’s plaint under Order VII Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code, allowing the suit to continue. While the High Court acknowledged previous dismissals of similar suits for lack of jurisdiction, it held that Testbook’s case involved additional allegations beyond the scope of earlier proceedings.
Challenging this reasoning, Google contended that the so-called new allegations were vague and, in substance, remained issues of abuse of dominance matters that fall squarely within the exclusive domain of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Google also asserted that the High Court’s ruling disregards statutory bars under the Competition Act, 2002 and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act).
Importantly, Google argued that the judgment is in direct conflict with a Division Bench ruling of the same High Court dated 19 January 2024, which had dismissed similar suits brought by other app developers on grounds of lack of jurisdiction. Notably, Testbook itself had earlier admitted that its suit raised identical issues as those previously dismissed. The company’s attempt to distinguish its claims on the basis of additional grounds was, according to Google, merely a repackaging of dominance-related allegations.
Senior counsel appearing for Google submitted that if the High Court’s judgment is not stayed, it could set a precedent for similar suits to bypass the statutory scheme and undermine the authority of designated regulators such as the CCI and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
With the Supreme Court’s stay now in effect, proceedings before the trial court in the Testbook suit stand paused until further orders.
Appearing for Google were Senior Advocates Harish Salve and Sajan Poovayya, briefed by AZB & Partners (team comprising Vijayendra Pratap Singh, Sayobani Basu, Shubhangni Jain, Ankitesh Ojha, Chetan Chawla, and Sia Ganju) along with the team from Chandhiok & Mahajan.
Testbook was represented by the legal team at Sarvada Legal.