On 7 May 2018 the Supreme Court clarified that the determination of the relevant market is not a mandatory pre-condition for assessing an alleged violation of Section 3 of the Competition Act (ie, anti-competitive agreements).
In its 7 March 2017 decision in Competition Commission of India (CCI) v Coordination Committee of Artists, the Supreme Court had observed that "the first and foremost aspect that needs determination is: What is the relevant market in which competition is affected?" In its application in the case at hand, the CCI argued that this had given the impression that the relevant market must be determined in all cases concerning Section 3 of the act.
However, the Supreme Court has now settled this matter by holding that delineation of the relevant market is not mandatory under the act. This is particularly true given the statutory presumption set out in Section 3 thereof.
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