Even as competition law enforcement frequently gets tangled in the mesh of litigation, trial results show a just and efficient implementation of the competition laws, asserted outgoing Competition Commission of India (CCI) chairman Dhanendra Kumar on Thursday.

Since May 2009, the anti-trust watchdog took up 171 cases under the Competition Act. Whereas 113 cases out of these were filed by various individuals, associations and business entities against other entities, 50 cases were received from the erstwhile Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission. The remaining cases were referred by statutory authorities or taken up suo motu by CCI.

Kumar said that of the 42 cases where the commission's order have been challenged in the courts only one of them was decided against it.

“This shows that the procedure being followed in the commission has met the test of legal scrutiny so far”, he noted.

He added that on the basis of prima facie opinion, the commission has so far ordered 100 cases for investigation through director general as provided under section 26(1) of the Act whereas orders have been passed in 58 cases under section 26(2) where in the opinion of the commission, no prima facie infringement of the Act was found. In addition, Kumar said that interim relief has also been granted in 16 cases under section 33 of the Act and the commission has also imposed penalties in one case finding that there was contravention of the provisions of Section 3 of the Act.