Landmark Decision: Constitutional Validity Of Certain Provisions Of The Competition Act

In a landmark decision on 10 April 2019, a division bench of the High Court of Delhi (Delhi HC), pronounced a judgment relating to a batch of petitions filed by car manufacturers, which challenged the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act).

The genesis of the matter arose from the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) findings in what has come to be known as the Auto Parts Case. The complaint alleged that three car manufacturers, M/s. Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd and Fiat India Automobiles Limited, restricted free availability of spare parts in the open market, which caused a denial of market access for independent repairers. This was in addition to other anti-competitive effects including high prices of spare parts and repair and maintenance services for automobiles.