Competition panel law to be changed soon

Attorney-General Milon Banerjee assured the Supreme Court that the Competition Commission Act would be amended suitably in view of the court's concern over the decision to appoint a bureaucrat rather than a retired chief justice as the head of this new regulatory agency.

He said the new government would introduce changes in the law in view of the observations made by the apex court on a public interest petition filed last year. The then Chief Justice, V N Khare, had described the law as a "direct onslaught on the judiciary".

The court had stopped the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government from appointing retired Commerce Secretary Deepak Chatterjee to head the commission.

The NDA government had given an assurance that the newly-constituted commission would not discharge any judicial function till the question of appointment of bureaucrats was settled by the court.

Banerjee told a bench headed by Chief Justice RC Lahoti that the ministry was now redrafting the offending provisions of the law and the amended legislation would be ready in six weeks.

The chief justice then adjourned the matter to enable the government make the changes.

According to reports, one of the main amendments in the legislation will be that the head of the commission will be appointed only after consulting the chief justice.

The Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had laid down long ago that tribunals with judicial powers equivalent to the high court should be headed by a person with judicial experience. The rule was made in the context of administrative tribunals. The government has been largely following this rule.

The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission, which is to be replaced by the Competition Commission, had always been headed by a retired high court judge.

The new Act changed the norm, giving precedence to bureaucrats. Therefore, the petitioner sought the quashing of the rule and the scrapping of the present selection committee.