Gujarat-Born US Judge Amit Mehta: A case of Google’s parent company Alphabet is going on in the court of Indian-origin judge Amit P. Mehta in a US district court. Google may get a big setback in this case. Google may have to sell its Chrome browser, which is the most used browser in the world. The US Justice Department (DoJ) has accused Google of monopoly regarding internet search engine. However, Google says that if it is forced to sell the Chrome browser, it will cause great harm to its customers and business. According to a statistic, Chrome had about 90 percent share in the global search engine market till October. Apart from this, its share in the US market is about 61 percent.
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Born in Gujarat
All eyes are on Indian-origin judge Amit P. Mehta in this Google case. Amit Mehta was appointed a judge by former US President Barack Obama. He was born in Patan, Gujarat in 1971 and moved to the US with his parents at the age of one. Amit Mehta earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from Georgetown University and then studied law. Amit Mehta began his legal career after graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997. After earning a law degree, he worked at law firms such as Latham & Watkins and Zuckerman Spader LLP, where he advocated for several high-profile clients.
First Asian-Pacific judge sworn in Washington DC Court
He served as a District Court judge in 2014 and served as a lawyer for former Senator Tom Feeney. Amit Mehta helped acquit former International Monetary Fund (IMF) president Dominique Strauss-Kahn of assault charges in a New York court. Amit Mehta was appointed to the US District Court in Washington DC in December 2014. He is the first Asian-Pacific American judge to be sworn in at the US District Court in Washington DC. Amit Mehta is also very fond of music. He has shown his love for music during several judgments. In a 2015 judgment, he mentioned his favorite music artists, including Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake and Eminem. Apart from this, in a 2018 judgment, he cited the lyrics of Beyoncé’s song ‘Sorry’.
Amit Mehta, who heard Trump’s case
Amit Mehta, who heard Trump’s case, has already given verdicts in many important cases. These decisions also include the case related to the Capitol Hill riots of January 6, 2020. In this, he rejected former President Donald Trump’s attempt to dismiss the cases that held him responsible for inciting the riots. Amit Mehta wrote in his decision, “The case is definitely related to the former President, but the court understands the seriousness of its decision very well.”
This is the latest case
This decision against Google has come after a big and long-running lawsuit. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and several US states had alleged that Google used unfair business practices to maintain the monopoly of its search engine. The trial began in September last year and lasted for 10 weeks. This decision, which can change the internet landscape, is one of the most important antitrust decisions in recent history. Judge Amit Mehta’s decision was clear, “Google has created its monopoly and it did this to maintain its monopoly.”
What does Google say?
However, the tech giant has consistently argued that its dominance in the market is due to the choice of users, and not by adopting unfair methods. Google’s search engine handles about 8.5 billion queries every day, which has almost doubled in the last ten years. In response to the decision against it, Google intends to file an appeal. Kent Walker, Google’s president of global affairs, said while defending the company, “This decision clearly shows that Google provides the best search engine, but should we not be allowed to make it easily available.” The company believes that its success is the result of providing better services to the users.
Antitrust case came earlier too
Early in Amit Mehta’s career, a case of violation of antitrust law came up. The country’s largest food delivery company, Sysco, was trying to buy its rival US Foods. The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to stop this $3.5 billion deal. Its argument was that this would reduce competition. Judge Mehta first studied for this case on his own. Over the next few months, he asked sharp questions about the food delivery business regarding antitrust law. In 2015, Judge Mehta wrote a 128-page judgment and ordered the deal to be temporarily stopped. After this, within a few days, Sysco dropped its acquisition plan.
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