What is the contention between Coal India and CCI?
The Supreme Court held that there was "no merit" in excluding CIL, a PSU, being excluded from the purview of the Competition Act.
What is the contention between Coal India and CCI?
Recently, the Supreme Court held that there was "no merit" in excluding CIL, a PSU, being excluded from the purview of the Competition Act.
The Competition Appellate Tribunal had alleged Coal India of abusing its position. The Competition Commission had penalised CIL for supplying low quality coal at higher prices and placing opaque conditions in the contract about supply parameters and quality.
Coal India was a fully-government owned entity until its disinvestment in 2010. More importantly, coal ceased to be an 'essential commodity' in 2007 and the Nationalisation Act of 1973 too was removed from the Ninth Schedule in 2017.
• Competition Commission of India– CCI is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002.
• CCI works to promote and sustain competition in markets, to protect the interests of consumers, and to ensure freedom of trade.
• The commission is a quasi-judicial body which gives opinions to statutory authorities and also deals with cases.
• Competition Act, 2002– The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations which may cause an adverse effect on competition within India.