Competition Appellate Tribunal to take up all pending MRTPC cases

The Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) would now take up for consideration all pending cases with the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Commission (MRTPC) as on 1 September 2009 when it was repealed.

With the Rajya Sabha passing the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2009, which replaces the Competition (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 and further amends section 66 of the Competition Act 2002, the Parliament has enacted the bill into law. The Lok Sabha had already considered and passed it on 14 December 2009.

The new legislation will benefit complainants whose complainants were pending before the MRTP Commission.

With the passing of the bill all the pending cases on which the MRTPC was to continue to exercise jurisdiction for two years after repeal of the MRTP Act will be adjudicated by Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) in accordance with the provisions of the repealed MRTP Act as if the Act had not been repealed.

The CAT has already started consideration of the pending cases from the date of ordinance, ie, 14 October 2009 and till 11 December 2009 had disposed of 54 cases. The investigations relating to unfair trade practices which stand transferred to the National Commission would be dealt with by the Competition Appellate Tribunal in the manner it may deem fit.

With the implementation of the provisions of the bill, it would be ensured that cases pending with the MRTP Commission at the time of the repeal of MRTP Act are processed expeditiously in a cost effective manner. It would benefit complainants whose complaints were pending before the MRTP Commission as on 1 September 2009, the date on which the MRTP Act was repealed.