India's National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), a local semi-judicial body, has asked a Walmart Inc unit to explain its business model in India, following an objection raised by a traders body against its $16 billion acquisition of e-commerce firm Flipkart.
NCLAT, an appellate body for the Competition Commission of India (CCI), issued the order to Wal-Mart International Holdings Inc, the document dated Sept. 6 showed.
"Before going into the merit of the appeal, we intend to know the manner in which Wal-Mart International Holdings Inc and Flipkart Private Ltd do their business in the relevant market in India," NCLAT said in a notice, asking Wal-Mart to file its reply by Sept. 20.
The order relates to an appeal petition filed by the Confederation of All India Traders against CCI's approval of the Walmart-Flipkart deal last month.
The trade body said the combination would create unfair competition and drive local convenience stores out of business.
Walmart completed the acquisition of a 77 percent stake in Flipkart on August 18, in one of the biggest U.S foreign investment.
