Competition Commission of India is a statutory body which came into occurrence in the year 2003. It was based on the direction given by the committee headed by Raghavan. In the year 1999, the then Finance Minister of India did accept the collapse of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1969 to limit the custom of competition in the ongoing Combination or Merger, and Abuse of Dominance in the globalization period as provided in Section 5 and 4, respectively. The Commission has yelled on the film bodies of their control over Film and Television Producers to hire talents.
Prior Facts:-
The Commission has held All India Film Employees Confederation, Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), and its 20 odd allied trade unions practised anti-competitive upon restricting directors and producers on hiring actors. Thereby, the bench of the Commission headed by DK Sikri ordered that the practice of film bodies amounts to anti-competitive and ordered to cease from practices that will bar producers and directors from hiring actors, who isn’t a part of their organisation. The benches consisting of four members were strict on sending vigilance to scrutinize the sets of Film and Television to detect the presence of non-members. In the year 2014, an award-winning Producer and Director Vipul Shah did file a complaint against the dictate of associations with hiring or payment of junior acting talents or production team.
Key Features:-
- Director-General was ordered to investigate into the complaint by CCI.
- After two years, the Director-General submitted 1500 pages were FWICE and allies adjudged liable for anti-competitive act through an MOU signed in the year 2010.
- Advocate Saveena Bedi representing Cine and TV Artistes’ Association said that the decision which was made by the commission was reasonable as it hasn’t levied monetary penalty on trade unions.
- The findings of Director-General and complaint made by Shah were based on unreliable information said by Counsel for FWICE K S Chandhok.
Order of the High Court of Karnataka:-
The High Court dismissed the petition filed by the film bodies challenging the authority of Competition Commission of India (CCI) and said that they cannot prevent the legal body to perform its duties. The High Court Judgment gave closure to one of the oldest cases were the petition was filed in the year 2012 by KFCC. The HC said, “Undisputed fact is, the Act is in force as on date. Hence, no Writ of prohibition can be issued against the Statutory Commission from exercising its jurisdiction. Hence, the petition is misconceived and it’s accordingly dismissed”.
The decision made by the commission has eroded the power of film bodies in past years.
Edited by J. Madonna Jephi
Approved & Published – Sakshi Raje
References:-
- Bangalore Mirror, Film bodies can’t prevent CCI from doing its duty: Karnataka High Court, https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/film-bodies-cant-prevent-cci-from-doing-its-duty-karnataka-high-court/articleshow/73362952.cms
- Times of India, Now, cine unions can’t stop hiring of non-members https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/now-cine-unions-cant-stop-hiring-of-non-members/articleshow/61427216.cms
