By way of a 24 January 2018 decision,(1) the Supreme Court has set aside the Competition Appellate Tribunal's (COMPAT's) 2 May 2014 decision which had, while dismissing a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order, held that a denial of market access as envisaged under Section 4(2)(c) of the Competition Act can be occasioned only to a competitor.

Previously, by way of a 3 July 2014 decision, the CCI held that M/s Fastway Transmission Pvt Ltd and its group entities (ie, multiple system operators) had denied market access to M/s Kansan News Pvt Ltd (a news channel broadcaster) by terminating the channel placement agreement mid-stream.

While rejecting the narrow interpretation of Section 4(2)(c) of the act, the Supreme Court held that the CCI has a positive duty to eliminate all practices which adversely effect competition. It was held that the inclusion of the words 'in any manner' in Section 4(2)(c) of the act implies a wide import and that the words must be given their natural meaning. Thus, the question as to whether Kansan (as a broadcaster) was in competition with multiple system operators was irrelevant for the purpose of applying Section 4(2)(c) of the act.

For further information on this topic please contact MM Sharma at Vaish Associates by telephone (+91 11 4249 2525) or email ([email protected]). The Vaish Associates website can be accessed at www.vaishlaw.com.

Endnotes

(1) Supreme Court decision dated 24 January 2018; for the full text, please see the Supreme Court's website.

This article was first published by the International Law Office, a premium online legal update service for major companies and law firms worldwide. Register for a free subscription.