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TMI Blog2012 (12) TMI 398X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Appellate Tribunal constituted under the Competition Act, 2002 and shall be adjudicated by the Appellate Tribunal in accordance with the provisions of the MRTP Act as if the MRTP Act had not been repealed. Consequently, the two compensation applications filed by the appellants stood transferred to the Competition Appellate Tribunal. Before the Competition Appellate Tribunal, the respondents in the two appeals raised preliminary objections to the maintainability of the compensation applications filed by the appellants. They contended that the appellants had not initiated separate proceedings either under Section 10 or under Section 36B of the MRTP Act alleging unfair trade practices by the respondents and in the absence of any such separate proceedings initiated by the respondents before the MRTP Commission, the compensation applications of the appellants under Section 12B of the MRTP Act were not maintainable. 3. This preliminary question raised by the respondents was also raised in C.A. No.108 of 2005 filed by Info Electronics System Ltd. against Sutran Corporation and the Competition Appellate Tribunal by its order dated 29.03.2011 passed in C.A. No.108 of 2005 (Info Elec ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... MRTP Act a claim for compensation under Section 12B of the MRTP Act was not maintainable is, therefore, correct. He further submitted that the case of the respondent U.P. Industrial Development Corporation Limited in C.A. No.110 of 1997 was that the grievance of the appellant did not relate to any unfair trade practice but relates to a breach of contract and such a claim for compensation cannot be entertained under Section 12B of the MRTP Act. 6. Mr. Alex Joseph, learned counsel for the appellants in the Civil Appeal arising out of S.L.P. (C) No.17380 of 2012, submitted that the Delhi High Court in yet another decision in R.C. Sood And Co. (P.) Ltd. & Ors. v. Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission & Anr. [1996 Vol.86 Company cases 626 Delhi] has held that it is not necessary that the MRTP Commission should first inquire or investigate into the allegations of monopolistic, restrictive and unfair trade practices carried on by any person or undertaking under Section 10, Section 36B or Section 37(1) of the MRTP Act before issuing notice in the application filed under Section 12B of the MRTP Act and sub- section (3) of Section 12B of the MRTP Act clearly shows th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... supra), cited before us by the learned counsel for the appellants, however, hold that an application for compensation under Section 12B of the MRTP Act was maintainable without any proceeding being initiated under Section 10 or Section 36B of the MRTP Act. We have perused the aforesaid two decisions of the Division Bench and the learned Single Judge of the Delhi High Court and in our considered opinion the Division Bench as well as the learned Single Judge of the Delhi High Court have correctly interpreted the provisions of Sections 10, 12B and 36B of the MRTP Act. 10. Sections 10, 12B and 36B of the MRTP Act are extracted hereinbelow: "10. Inquiry into monopolistic or restrictive trade practices by Commission - The Commission may inquiry into - (a) any restrictive trade practice - (i) upon receiving a complaint of facts which constitute such practice from any trade association or from any consumer or a registered consumers' association, whether such consumer is a member of that consumers' association or not, or (ii) upon a reference made to it by the Central Government or a State Government, or (iii) upon an application made to it by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ferred to in sub-section (l) has been passed by any court in favour of any person or persons referred to in sub-section (1), or, as the case may be, sub-section (2), the amount, if any, paid or recovered in pursuance of the order made by the Commission under sub-section(3) shall be set off against the amount payable under such decree and the decree shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), or any other law for the time being in force, be executable for the balance, if any, left after such set off. 36B. Inquiry into unfair trade practices by Commission - The Commission may inquire into any unfair trade practice, - (a) upon receiving a complaint of facts which constitutes such practice from any trade association or from any consumer or a registered consumers' association, whether such consumer is a member of that consumers' association or not; or (b) upon a reference made to it by the Central Government or a State Government; or (c) upon an application made to it by the Director General; or (d) upon its own knowledge or information." 11. On a reading of sub-section (1) of Section 12B of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the MRTP Act to the provisions of either Section 10 or Section 36B of the MRTP Act and if Parliament intended that the power of the MRTP Commission to award compensation under Section 12B of the MRTP Act was to be dependent on the exercise of power of MRTP Commission either under Section 10 or under Section 36B of the MRTP Act, Parliament would have made this intention clear in the language of some provision in Section 12B of the MRTP Act. There is also no reference in either Section 10 or in Section 36B of the MRTP Act to any of the provisions of Section 12B of the MRTP Act and if the Parliament intended to make Sections 10, 12B and 36B of the MRTP Act interdependent, there would have been some indication of this intention of Parliament in Section 10 or in Section 36B of the MRTP Act. In the absence of any such indication of this intention of Parliament to make the provisions of Section 12B of the MRTP Act dependent on initiation of an inquiry or proceeding under Section 10 or Section 36B of the MRTP Act, the Competition Appellate Tribunal clearly erred in coming to the conclusion that interdependence of the provisions of Section 10 or Section 36B with Section 12B cannot be l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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