9911796707
TMI Blog2020 (5) TMI 754X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ant spent 693 days in proceedings before the Hon ble High Court since there was denial of natural justice by Commission. He continued to lay stress on the proposition that Writ Jurisdiction can be invoked even when alternate remedy is available if there was denial of natural justice and the impugned order was obtained by fraud. It is indisputable that competition concerns raised with regard to all anti- competitive activities in whatever form or manifestation are effectively dealt with under the Act which provides an efficacious remedy in the form of statutory appeal under Section 53B of the Act. It being the admitted position that efficacious legal remedy in the form of appeal is available within the adjudicatory mechanism under the Act, an unscrupulous litigant aggrieved of any order, direction and decision of the Commission under the Act cannot be allowed to choose the remedies under law and invoke writ jurisdiction of the Hon ble High Court under the pretext of the impugned order being non est and emanating out of an inquiry, investigation or trial held in breach of the principles of natural justice. Such course, if permitted, would provide leverage to unscrupulous litigants to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... livery solutions to various institutions spanning across forty Countries. It was alleged that while the Informants, as franchisees of OP were initially granted rights to offer Post Graduate Diploma in Banking Operations (PGDBO) course conducted by the OP in collaboration with ICICI Bank, subsequently the OP revoked the rights of Informants though itself continued to offer the same course at its own centre at Basheerbagh, Hyderabad. Allegedly OP had been making forays into the territories of Informants depriving the Informants of their legitimate share of revenue from that territory. It was also alleged that the OP was offering courses at highly discounted prices by entering into an agreement with 'Accenture' and followed a differential pricing pattern for its consumers in metros jeopardising the rights of students and franchisees and thereby rendering the courses offered by the franchisees uncompetitive; besides alleged to be indulging in predatory pricing as the prospective customers in a franchisee's territory could register online thereby ruining the business of franchisees. It was further alleged that the OP has arbitrarily reduced the Informants share from 20% to 10% in Imperi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (2) of the Act. 4. The instant appeal has been preferred by the Informant Maj. Pankaj Raj in Case No. 47 of 2017 on 6th January, 2020 i.e. after 768 days. Section 53B of the Act providing for appeal, inter alia against any order falling within clause (a) of Section 53A of the Act which includes order passed by the Commission under sub-section (2) of Section 26 provides that the appeal shall be filed within 60 days from the date of such order being received by the aggrieved person. Proviso to sub- section (2) of Section 53B permits this Appellate Tribunal to entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of 60 days on being satisfied that there is sufficient cause for not filing appeal within the prescribed period. On a plain reading of these relevant provisions, it emerges that the prescribed period of limitation of 60 days is extendable without any further limitation as regards period but subject to the Appellate Tribunal being satisfied about sufficiency of cause assigned for non-filing of the appeal within the prescribed period of limitation. The instant appeal has been filed after 768 days of the passing of the impugned order and since the Appellant was the Informant ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d hereinabove, the Appellant made strenuous efforts to demonstrate that the Commission dealt with the Informations in gross violation of the principles of fairness and fair play. Reference was made to involvement of Mr. Vinod Dhall in the affairs of the firm 'Advocates & Solicitors' appearing for one of the Respondents before the Commission to show that the decision of the Commission was engineered through the intervention of Mr. Vinod Dhall who earlier served as the Chairperson of the Commission. Obviously, this is done to demonstrate that decision making process of the Commission was obliquely influenced. 9. It is indisputable that this Appellate Tribunal, while sitting in appeal over the appealable orders passed by the Commission, is vested with ample powers to consider all issues having a bearing on the sustainability of such orders. An efficacious remedy in the form of statutory appeal under Section 53B to the extent of appealable orders passed by the Commission is available and the Hon'ble High Court of Telengana has disposed of the Writ Petitions and Writ Appeals refusing to exercise writ jurisdiction in view of the efficacious remedy of appeal being available under the sta ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... le Appellate Tribunal at New Delhi is difficult for the Appellant fighting NIIT which has deep pockets. Hence, approaching this Hon'ble Appellate Tribunal was only to seek justice when repeated attempts at the High Court failed to impress HC to adjudicate even though the Appellant has a strong case on merits. At para 15 and 16 in Swiss Ribbons Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Union of India, the Apex Court held that this Hon'ble Appellate Tribunal, is not an efficacious remedy for a common man of modest means. This may not be considered as an affront to this Hon'ble Appellate Tribunal but the practical difficulty of the Appellant. The Appellant tried unsuccessfully to approach the Apex Court to seek direction for early disposal of review petition and when unsuccessful has approached this Hon'ble Tribunal (pages 133-134 of counter affidavit of NIIT). In case this Hon'ble Appellate Tribunal had a Circuit Bench at Hyderabad, the Appellant would have approached this Hon'ble Tribunal at Hyderabad instead of approaching High Court unhesitatingly." 11. Apart from the offensive and intemperate language employed in the aforesaid para by the Appellant, be it seen that the observations of the Hon'ble Apex Cou ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... with inquiry by the Commission including investigation by the Director General, a fair adjudicatory mechanism and a robust appellate mechanism. It provides for expeditious disposal of cases and also prescribes a period of limitation for preferring appeals against the orders, decisions or directions given by the Commission in regard to matters covered under Section 53A. Admittedly, application of provisions of the Limitation Act, 1963 is not specifically excluded under the Act which prescribes a period of 60 days for preferring an appeal against the appealable orders of the Commission under Section 53B of the Act. It also provides for similar period of limitation for preferring appeals to Hon'ble Apex Court from orders of Appellate Tribunal under Section 53T of the Act. Both provisions dealing with the appeals, however, empower the Appellate Courts to entertain appeal beyond the prescribed period of limitation under the Act if satisfied that the Appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal within the prescribed period. It is significant to take note of sub-section (5) of Section 53B which provides that the Appellate Tribunal shall deal with the appeal as expedi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
