How SC order draws the line between Trai and CCI, helps avoid turf war

A recent Supreme Court judgment demarcates the jurisdiction border between the two regulators. This could have wider implications for conflicts among regulators

In a recent judgment dismissing the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) plea to probe three telecom companies for anti-competitive practices, the Supreme Court may also have laid down the principles for avoiding jurisdictional skirmishes that happen between a sector regulator and the CCI.

The top court last week upheld a Bombay High Court order quashing a CCI probe into allegations of cartelisation by Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular.

Giving the upper hand to the sector regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), the apex court agreed with the high court’s view that “till the jurisdictional issues are straightened and answered