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TO face the challenges of globalisation consisting of competition, India removed controls and supported liberalisation in a big way. The natural corollary of this is that the Indian market geared up to face competition from within and outside the country. The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act), has become obsolete in the light of the international economic developments relating more particularly to competition laws and there was a need to shift our focus from curbing monopolies to promoting competition. The objective is to sustain competition culture in the nation for economic efficiency and maximisation of public/consumer interest by free and fair competition amongst public and private enterprises.
The Competition Act has been on the statute book for more than eight years, but it has not received much attention from academicians. There is very little published work treating the whole field in depth. This book, which is authored by the known scholar and expert of law, Professor V. K. Agarwal, is the first attempt in this direction. The book is divided into three parts. The first part provides "Introduction" wherein the learned author has explained the philosophy of the subject along with the international developments. This part also enumerates the competition laws in other countries such as US, Canada, UK, Australia, EEC, etc. The second part of the book constitutes an exhaustive commentary on the provisions of the Competition Act. The synopsis of every section has been given on the top of the commentary to make it easy for the readers to find out the topic they wants to study. The headings and sub-headings enhance the quality and utility of the book. The provisions of the Act have been subject to deep and intensive analysis and discussion. The categories of "anti-competitive agreements" given in the Act have been examined and commented upon with the help of case law available on the subject. The Act has been amended in 2007 and 2009. The effects of these Amendments have also been explained and discussed in the text. This Act is the complex piece of legislation. While explaining the provisions, the author has not shied away from expressing his own viewpoints in the area of doubt. The commentary has been supplemented with the reference material not readily available elsewhere, which forms the third part of the book. The book will have a wider appeal because the author has sought to minimise legal and economic technicalities without sacrificing clarity and precision. It is rich in contents and presentation, while the language used is simple and lucid. The book can be an immensely useful possession for members of the legal profession, chartered accountants, company secretaries, economists and others. It is equally important to the scholars and students of law, commerce, economics, and business management. It deserves to be on the bookshelf of institutional libraries, as well as the libraries of professionals and all stakeholders in modern corporate world within and outside India. Finally, the author deserves the pat on the back with credit of bringing out a high quality of work on the subject of Competition Act 2002 with systematic, up-to-date and exhaustive commentary which was the need of the day.
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In view of the aforesaid
background, the Competition Act, 2002, was enacted. The Act seeks to
ensure fair competition by providing for the prohibition of
anti-competitive agreements, prohibition of abuse of dominance,
regulation of combinations, and competition advocacy. The Competition
Act repealed the MRTP Act and replaced the MRTP Commission with the
Competition Commission of India.