SC rejects cartelization charge against telcos

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) seeking a probe against Bharti Airtel Ltd, Vodafone India Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd, following complaints of cartelization by Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.

“We welcome the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court where they have upheld the order of the Bombay high court”, said an Airtel spokesperson.

The anti-trust body had approached the apex court in January challenging a Bombay high court order, which set aside a probe against the telecom firms.

“We are dismissing it,” said a three-judge bench headed by Justice AK Sikri.

On September 21, 2017 the Bombay high court had ruled that the CCI had no jurisdiction to interpret contract conditions or policies of the telecom sector, which was governed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. The order was passed on a plea by Idea, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), seeking quashing of the CCI order, directing an investigation into allegations of cartelization by Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio had questioned the jurisdiction of the Bombay HC and had argued that the case must be heard by the Delhi HC as the CCI order was passed in Delhi.

This was rejected by the court.

PTI contributed to this story.

CCI HAD MOVED SC IN JANUARY CHALLENGING A BOMBAY HC ORDER, WHICH SET ASIDE A PROBE AGAINST IDEA, AIRTEL AND VODAFONE