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Competition Law

Semester 5 · 18 topics in 5 units

Past question papers for Competition Law

Unit I 3 topics

  1. Competition policy, economics and the elements of competition lawWhat competition is and why the State protects it, market structures from perfect competition to monopoly, the difference between competition policy and competition law, the functions of the law, and the four practices every modern statute controls.6 min
  2. Practices controlled by competition law: an overviewA map of the conduct competition law controls: cartels, price fixing, market sharing and bid rigging; the vertical restraints; the exclusionary and exploitative abuses including predatory pricing; anti-competitive mergers; and the older MRTP categories of monopolistic, restrictive and unfair trade practices.6 min
  3. Constitutional provisions regulating trade and competitionThe constitutional base of competition law: freedom of trade under Article 19(1)(g) and its limits in Article 19(6), the Directive Principles in Articles 38 and 39(b) and (c), freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse under Articles 301 to 307, and how the Supreme Court has read them.6 min

Unit II 3 topics

  1. The Sherman Antitrust Act, 1890The first modern competition statute: the trusts it was passed against, section 1 on contracts in restraint of trade and section 2 on monopolisation, the per se rule and the rule of reason from Standard Oil to Leegin, enforcement and penalties, and what Indian law borrowed from it.6 min
  2. The Clayton Act, 1914 and the Federal Trade Commission Act, 1914The two 1914 statutes that filled the gaps in the Sherman Act: Clayton's rules on price discrimination, tying and exclusive dealing, mergers, interlocking directorates, treble damages and the labour exemption; and the FTC Act's independent commission and its power over unfair methods of competition.6 min
  3. UK Competition Act, 1998 and the Enterprise Act, 2002The British model the Indian Act most resembles: the Chapter I and Chapter II prohibitions, exemption and penalties under the Competition Act 1998, and the Enterprise Act 2002's cartel offence, merger control, market investigations and Competition Appeal Tribunal, with the later changes that created the CMA.5 min

Unit III 5 topics

  1. The MRTP Act, 1969, the Raghavan Committee and the Consumer Protection ActWhy India had the MRTP Act, how it worked and why it failed, what the Raghavan Committee recommended, the changes the Competition Act made to the MRTP approach, and where unfair trade practices went: the objects of the Consumer Protection Acts of 1986 and 2019.7 min
  2. The Competition Act, 2002: salient features, key definitions and amendmentsThe scheme of the Competition Act chapter by chapter, the definitions that decide jurisdiction (agreement, cartel, enterprise, relevant market), the staggered commencement, Brahm Dutt and the 2007 amendment, the 2017 transfer of appeals to the NCLAT, and the 2023 amendment with the dates its main provisions came into force.7 min
  3. Anti-competitive agreements: section 3, cartels and bid riggingSection 3 of the Competition Act: the AAEC test, horizontal agreements and the section 3(3) presumption, vertical agreements under section 3(4), per se and rule of reason, cartels, hub-and-spoke and bid rigging, the exceptions, and the leading cases from Excel Crop Care to Rajasthan Cylinders, with a tender cartel problem.8 min
  4. Abuse of dominant position and the relevant marketSection 4 in three steps: define the relevant product and geographic market under sections 2(r) to (t) and 19(5) to (7), assess dominance under the section 19(4) factors, and identify an abuse from the section 4(2) list, with predatory pricing, the effects-based approach in Schott Glass, Coal India, DLF and Google Android, and a worked problem.7 min
  5. Regulation of combinations: mergers, acquisitions and the deal value thresholdWhat a combination is under section 5 (asset and turnover thresholds, the Rs. 2,000 crore deal value threshold, control and group), the mandatory suspensory notification under section 6, the section 20(4) factors, the CCI's procedure under sections 29 to 31, exemptions, the green channel, gun-jumping penalties and Thomas Cook, with a worked problem.8 min

Unit IV 2 topics

  1. Competition Commission of India: establishment, composition, meetings and the Competition FundSections 7 to 17, 22 and 50 to 53: the CCI as a body corporate, its Chairperson and Members, qualifications, the Selection Committee, tenure, removal, the two-year cooling-off, the Director General and staff, how the Commission meets and decides, and the Competition Fund, audit and annual report.6 min
  2. Duties, powers and functions of the Competition CommissionSection 18 duties; how a case starts and runs under sections 19 and 26; the orders under sections 27, 28 and 31; civil court powers, interim orders and rectification under sections 33, 36 and 38; extra-territorial jurisdiction; references to and from sector regulators; settlements and commitments; with SAIL and Bharti Airtel.7 min

Unit V 5 topics

  1. The Director General: appointment, duties and investigation powersThe investigating arm of the CCI: appointment under section 16, the trigger in section 26(1), civil court powers, the duty of parties to preserve and produce records, examination on oath, search and seizure with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's order under section 41 as rewritten in 2023, the investigation report, and penalties for non-cooperation.5 min
  2. Penalties, leniency, settlements and commitments under the Competition ActThe procedure for imposing penalty and the penalty provisions of Chapter VI: section 27 on global turnover, the cartel penalty, liability of officers under section 48, gun-jumping, non-compliance and false information, lesser penalty and leniency plus under section 46, settlements and commitments under sections 48A to 48C, and the penalty guidelines, with a leniency problem.7 min
  3. Appeals and compensation: from the Competition Appellate Tribunal to the NCLAT and the Supreme CourtChapter VIIIA of the Act: the Competition Appellate Tribunal created in 2007 and its replacement by the NCLAT in 2017, which orders are appealable, limitation and the 25 per cent pre-deposit, compensation claims under section 53N, the Tribunal's powers, execution and contempt, and the further appeal to the Supreme Court under section 53T.6 min
  4. Competition advocacyThe Commission's non-enforcement role under section 49: policy references from the Central and State Governments, the non-binding opinion, awareness and training, competition culture after 2023, the link with references by and to sector regulators, market studies, and why advocacy matters in an economy where much restraint comes from the State.5 min
  5. Leading cases on competition lawThe Supreme Court judgments that shape the Competition Act, in date order with the point each decides: Haridas Exports, Brahm Dutt, SAIL, Co-ordination Committee, Excel Crop Care, Thomas Cook, Rajasthan Cylinders, Bharti Airtel, Samir Agrawal, Mizoram, Coal India and Schott Glass, with the Google Android proceedings.6 min