13th Annual Day of the Competition Commission of India

The Competition Commission of India (the CCI) has completed 12 years of enforcement of antitrust litigation on 19 May 2021. The mandate of the CCI is to eliminate conduct-related business practices of enterprises having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade carried on by other participants in markets of India. The journey of the CCI in so far as antitrust litigation is concerned is a mixed bag of opportunities and challenges to both the CCI and the stakeholders. The Parliament perhaps thought that minimising delay in disposing of competition-related economic disputes could be achieved if the CCI, the appellate authority and the Supreme Court of India were given exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate matters and in attaining that novel objective it barred civil courts’ jurisdictions by inserting a suitable provision in the Competition Act. It is undoubtedly a complex legislation. Protecting consumer interests on the one hand to ensuring freedom of trade carried on by other participants in markets of India on the other, is easier said than implemented in reality. The consultative policy adopted by the CCI in bringing about changes in procedural laws has helped the process evolve transparently which is still a work-in-progress. Despite exclusivity of jurisdiction, the remedy of Constitutional Writ challenges does help all stakeholders to make course corrections despite at times it derails the objective of expeditious remedy to economic disputes. The legal fraternity congratulates the CCI on its 13th Annual Day.