By Aditya Kalra and Abhirup Roy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Google accused India’s antitrust regulator in court on Friday of being a “habitual offender” by leaking confidential information of cases it was examining, an accusation the watchdog rejected.

The Times of India reported Saturday that the Competition Commission of India had concluded that Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:) Inc had abused its dominant position in India’s Android operating system by illegally using its “huge economic muscle” to harm competitors.

Google sued CCI in Delhi High Court in an unusual action. The company stated in a statement that it was protesting against breach of confidence and to stop any unlawful disclosures or untruessing of confidential findings.

Google lawyer Abhishek Singhvi accused the CCI repeatedly of leaked information. He claimed it was doing so in order to “give a pet a bad name and hang him with these selective leakages.”

He requested that the court tell the CCI the “leakage can not continue for one more minute”.

CCI’s attorney, India’s Additional Counselor General N. Venkataraman denied all allegations. He claimed that the U.S. technology giant wanted to impede the investigation and challenged a government authority with no evidence.

A government agency is being accused. Venkataraman demanded that Google’s filing be dismissed. “How can we hold ourselves responsible for the words that have been spoken in this court?”

Justice Rekha Palli took note of the arguments and issued an order. A second hearing was scheduled for Monday.

Google refused to comment on the hearing. The CCI also did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

In 2019, the antitrust agency ordered a probe, stating that Google had used its dominant position to limit device manufacturers’ options for alternative versions of its mobile OS and to force them into pre-installing Google apps.

According to the 750-page report which isn’t public, the investigation found that mandatory pre-installation of applications “amounts to impositional condition on the manufacturer of the device.” This violates India’s Competition Law.

Reuters obtained the report. It also revealed that the company exploited its Play Store store position to preserve its market dominance.