COMPAT to resume hearing on cement firms plea tomorrow

NEW DELHI: The Competition Appellate Tribunal would tomorrow resume its hearing over a batch of petitions filed by cement firms seeking stay on Rs 6,307-crore penalty imposed by fair trade regulator CCI on the grounds of cartelisation.

A COMPAT bench headed by it Chairman, Justice V S Sirpurkar would start its hearing. On March 4, the tribunal had adjourned the hearing to March 13.

The petitions relate to appeals against penalty of Rs 6,307 crore imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on 11 cement makers, as also a fine of Rs 73 lakh on the cement industry body CMA.

The cement companies charged with cartelisation include Lafarge India, India Cement, JP Associates, Binani Cement, Ambuja Cement, Madras Cement and J K Cement.

"The act and conduct of the cement companies establish that they are a cartel. The Commission holds that the cement companies acting together have limited, controlled and also attempted to control the production and price in the market in India," CCI had said in its 258-page order.

CCI had found "cement manufacturers in violation of the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002 which deals with anti-competitive agreements including cartels".

The order was passed following probe by its Director General (Investigation) on a complaint filed by Builders Association.