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Friday, Jan 21, 2005

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Supreme Court allows Centre to amend Competition Act

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 20. The Supreme Court today allowed the Centre to bring amendments to the Competition Commission Act as suggested by it, viz. that the Chairperson of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) would be an expert and not a judge, and only the chief of an appellate tribunal would be a judicial person.

A three-judge Bench, comprising the Chief Justice, R.C. Lahoti, Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan, was disposing of the petitions filed by advocates Brahma Dutt and R. Gandhi challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.

The Bench, leaving the issues open, said the court could consider the questions raised in the petitions after the Centre carried out the amendments proposed by it.

The National Democratic Alliance Government, while introducing the CCI, provided for the appointment of a bureaucrat to head the Competition Commission.

But the apex court stayed this and the Centre was asked to consider amendments to the Act.

However, the UPA Government too endorsed the stand of its predecessor and informed the Supreme Court that only a technical expert and not a judge would be the Chairperson of the Competition Commission.

Expertise needed

In its fresh proposals, the Centre, while reiterating that the CCI needed to be a body of experts, said that if at all a judge was included in the CCI, it would be on the strength of his expertise in the field and not because of his judicial background.

It said the CCI, apart from the Chairperson, should have a maximum of six members (a total of seven members).

It, however, said there would be an Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals against the orders of the Commission and that this Tribunal would be headed by a sitting or retired Supreme Court judge or a Chief Justice of a High Court. The other two members would be experts in competition and related matters.

The Centre also agreed to amend the controversial provision relating to the execution of the orders of the CCI by the High Courts and substituted the High Courts with civil courts.

In another modification, the Government said that the CCI would be divested of its power to detain a person in civil prison in the event of contravention of the provisions of the Act.

The Bench said the legality or otherwise of the provisions could be tested only after the amended Act was put in place.

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