Competition Act '02 to be amended

NEW DELHI: Attorney General Soli Sorabjee today told the Supreme Court that the government would amend the Competition Act, 2002 to create an appellate mechanism. The appellate tribunal would be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.
Mr Sorabjee told the court today that he had suggested certain changes to the Act to address the objections raised by the court and the public interest litigation. The litigation had challenged the appointment of a bureaucrat to discharge quasi-judicial function.
The court has directed the government to submit to it as well as the petitioner the details of the proposed changes. It has given the government three weeks time to submit the proposed changes in writing. The next hearing will come up after four weeks.
The department of company affairs has proposed to amend sections 39 and 40 of the Act. The changes can now be affected only after the new government assumes office. The Act would be amended to say that the orders of Competition Commission that it was not able to execute would be sent to only civil courts for implementation and that appeals to the orders would have to be moved before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) which would be renamed as Securities and Competition Appellate Tribunal.