Supreme Court objects to bureaucrat heading CCI

They wanted to know whether adjudication functions could be given to an expert body like the Competition Commission of India (CCI), whether judiciary should have primacy in choosing the CCI chairperson and whether the government had the right to dissolve it. If experts were to take over the task of judicial adjudication, then the Government would be well within its rights to appoint police commissioners as sessions judges, the bench observed.

These observations followed a petition filed by Brahm Datt whose counsel, R.K.Jain, had contended that the composition of the CCI and the provisions empowering the government to choose its chairperson amounted to the executive usurping judicial functions.

He contended that the Chairperson should be a retired judge and he or she should be selected by the Chief Justice of India or his nominee.

Arvind Dattar, counsel for Madras High Court Bar Association, submitted his arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday, challenging some of the provisions of the CCI Act.

The Centre’s counsel submitted that the Government was contemplating certain amendments to make the CCI an expert body and there would be an appellate authority headed by a retired judge. This is in contrast to the earlier provision where the appeals were to lie before the Apex Court.

Moreover, the executing courts for the orders and decrees of the CCI would be civil courts and not high courts, the counsel submitted. But the bench was not convinced and directed the counsel to submit an affidavit within three weeks incorporating the amendments proposed by the Centre.

The bench posted the matter for further hearing to November 29.