Competition Commission drops contempt charges against Chess Federation

The Competition Commission has dropped contempt proceedings against the All India Chess Federation (AICF), while directing it to comply with its orders in letter and spirit within stipulated timelines.

In the order dated July 24, the CCI took into consideration AICF's affidavit and decided to drop the proceedings initiated against the AICF under Section 42 of the Competition Act.

The contempt petition was filed by three chess players -- Karun Duggal, Gurpreet Pal Singh and Devendra Bajpai.

The AICF, in its affidavit had said that it had complied with the July 12, 2018 order and also requested the CCI to record satisfactory compliance of the orders passed by it and also close the proceedings against it under Section 42 of the Act.

As per Section 42 of the Competition Act, a person failing to comply with the orders of the Commission can be punished with a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh per day during which such non-compliance occurs, subject to a maximum fine of Rs 10 crore.

Further, if a person fails to comply with the order or fails to pay the fine, he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with a fine which may extend to Rs 25 crore, or both.

The CCI on July 24 said that its order "shall be without prejudice to any other proceedings that are pending against AICF, either before the NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal) or any other court in respect of the conduct(s) which has been found to be in contravention of the provisions of the Act."