Delhi High Court Clears Procedural And Jurisdictional Issues In Antitrust Inquiry By CCI

Article by MM Sharma, Head Competition Law & Policy Practice, Vaish Associates, Advocates, New Delhi, India

 The Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi comprising of Justice S. Ravindra Bhatt and Justice A K Chawla, vide its landmark judgment dated 12 September 2018 has cleared some important procedural ambiguities surrounding the inquiry by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) under the Competition Act,2002 (the Act). The Hon'ble DB of the High Court while dismissing three out of four pleas appealed by Cadila Healthcare Limited ("Cadila") in a Letter Patent Appeal (LPA) against an earlier judgment dated 09 March 2018 of the Single Bench of the Delhi High Court (Justice  V Kameshwar Rao) , has held that (i) The investigation by  the Director General (DG) does not get vitiated in the absence of specific prima facie finding against a particular party by CCI under section 26(1) of the Act; (ii) CCI can hold simultaneous inquiry under section 48 of the Act