By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Three online sellers

operating on Walmart ( WMT )-owned Flipkart have sued the Indian

antitrust watchdog over an investigation which found they,

Flipkart and rival Amazon breached competition laws,

according to court filings seen by Reuters.

The filings come after antitrust investigations

concluded in August found Amazon and Flipkart, some of their

sellers and smartphone brands, violated local competition laws

by giving undue preference to select online sellers and

prioritizing certain listings, Reuters has reported.

Flipkart is one of India's biggest ecommerce players and

rivals Amazon.

In an effort to quash the critical proceedings, the three

sellers on the platform made submissions in the High Court of

Karnataka to "set aside" the investigation report and put the

process of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on hold.

Lawsuits from sellers of Amazon and Flipkart can potentially

delay the investigation process which first started in 2020, and

was triggered after brick-and-mortar retailers of the

Confederation of All India Traders complained to the watchdog.

Amazon and Flipkart deny any wrongdoing.

Three of Flipkart sellers - CIGFIL Retail, Wishery Online,

Xonique Ventures - in their lawsuits argue that during the

investigation they were called to submit data to help officials,

but were later named as accused, which is against due process,

court papers show.

"The alleged investigation ... is arbitrary, opaque,

unfair," the sellers argued in three separate court filings,

which will come up for hearing likely next week.

Flipkart and the CCI did not immediately respond to a

request for comment. Reuters could not immediately reach the

three sellers, whose filings are being reported for the first

time.

Last week, a former Amazon seller also sued the CCI and

obtained an interim injunction to block the investigation from

proceeding. Its court filing - which Reuters has seen - argued

the CCI did not give notice before making it an accused in the

case.