By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - India's antitrust body has

turned down a request from Apple ( AAPL ) to put a hold on an

investigation report which found the company breached

competition laws, allowing the case to continue, an internal

order from the regulator seen by Reuters showed.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in August ordered

a recall of investigation reports after Apple ( AAPL ) said the watchdog

had disclosed commercial secrets to competitors in the case

dating back to 2021, including Tinder-owner Match.

These elements should have been redacted.

The CCI had asked parties to return the reports and destroy

any copies. The regulator then issued new reports.

The CCI internal order showed that Apple ( AAPL ) in November alleged

that the main complainant in the antitrust investigation -

Indian non-profit Together We Fight Society (TWFS) - had not

complied with the directives to give an assurance that the old

investigation reports had been destroyed.

Apple ( AAPL ) asked the CCI "to take action against TWFS for

non-compliance with its order" and "to withhold the revised"

report, the CCI order, dated Nov. 13, seen by Reuters showed.

"Apple's ( AAPL ) request to hold the investigation report in

abeyance was deemed untenable," the CCI said in the order.

Apple ( AAPL ) did not respond to Reuters queries.

The CCI did not respond outside regular business hours on

Sunday. Calls to representatives of TWFS went unanswered.

A CCI investigation had found that Apple ( AAPL ) exploited its

dominant position in the market for app stores on its iOS

operating system to the detriment of app developers, users and

other payment processors.

Apple ( AAPL ) has denied wrongdoing and said it is a small player in

India where phones that use Google's Android system are

dominant.

The CCI internal order also showed that Apple ( AAPL ) has been asked

to submit its audited financial statements for fiscal years

2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 under regulatory guidelines aimed

at determining possible monetary penalties in the case.

The CCI's senior officials will review the investigation

report and make a final ruling on the case.