SC rejects CCI order against GSK, Sanofi

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s order quashing a penalty of ~64 crore imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur for alleged bid rigging to supply vaccines for Haj pilgrims.

The firms were accused of colluding in bids for the Quadrivalent Meningococcal Meningitis Vaccine in tenders floated by the health ministry. GSK and Sanofi Pasteur had first appealed to Compat.

The SC decided that the facts did not make for a judgment against the firms, a lawyer on the case told Business Standard. A lawyer for the CCI argued it had evidence that the firms engaged in tender rigging, and that the quantity of bids by GSK and Sanofi together were equivalent to the tender quantity. But the court observed that the CCI did not satisfy the standard of proof that is required.

Earlier, Compat had also quashed the CCI’s order. It had said that even if the CCI had to impose a penalty, it should be on the relevant turnover and not on the total annual turnover for three years.

The CCI had imposed a penalty of ~60 crore on GSK and ~4 crore on Sanofi on the basis of their turnovers.

The CCI had initiated its investigation on a complaint from another pharma company, Biomed.

Biomed alleged that the government facilitated a cartel between GSK and Sanofi from 2008 to 2012.