The KIIT Centre for Studies in Business and Corporate Law (CBCL) is a faculty-cum-student run society of the KIIT School of Law endeavoring for excellence in Corporate Law. CBCL has created various opportunities for students for research and study in the field of Corporate Law. The Centre aims at promoting and understanding of practical aspects of the Corporate and Commercial Laws among students.
On 15th November, 2019, the Centre for Studies in Business and Corporate Law (CBCL), School of Law, KIIT DU conducted the 3rd National Seminar on Competition Law in India, 2019 in Collaboration with Competition Commission of India. It was graced by two eminent speakers namely, Dr. Bidyadhar Majhi, Director (Economic), Competition Commission of India and Mr. Arpan Sharma, Deputy Director (Law), Competition Commission of India. The Participants included Bachelors students (from college and outside college), Masters students, Professors and professionals.
The National Seminar commenced with an Inaugural Ceremony conducted at 10 AM with the lighting of the lamp, introduction and felicitation of the Guest Speakers,, Welcome Speech by Prof. (Dr.) S.C Raina, Director, School of law, KIIT Deemed to be University and Vote of Thanks delivered by Prof. (Dr.) P.C Mishra, Dean, School of Law, KIIT DU. After the Inaugural Ceremony, the Technical Sessions of the Seminar began.
The 1st Technical Session commenced at 11:30 AM on a topic named “Competition Law: Journey So Far”. Dr. Bidyadhar Majhi being the lead speaker for the same emphasized on the importance of competition law, achievements of CCI as Competition Regulator along with important cases laws of CCI. The types of economic systems, namely Market economy, Socialist economy and Mixed economy were discussed before a discussion on the benefits of competition.
Dr. Majhi enriched the participants about the origin of competition law from 2002, Amendment in 2007 and the addition of combination in 2011. He also added concepts such as appreciable adverse effects and ex-ante compliances. He let the students know about the hierarchy present in the CCI. Summing up the session, he discussed cases like DLF Case, Coal India case and Cement Cartel Case.
The 2nd Technical Session commenced at 12:45 PM on a topic named “Cartelization and Bid-rigging: Legal Aspects and Strategies”. Mr. Arpan Sharma leading the session explained the various definitions under Section 2 of The Competition Act, 2002 and also about the Anti Competitive Agreement under Section 3.
Furthermore, he explained the two types of Agreements, namely, Horizontal and Vertical Agreements. Collusive Bidding and how the Bidders manipulate the competition Process was also a key point of the law he addressed. The various emerging trends under Competition Law were also discussed including the concepts of Messenger Scenario, Hub and Spoke, Autonomous Machines and Predictable Agents.
Lastly, some landmark judgments decided by CCI were discussed, including the case of excel Corporation v. CCI and Rajasthan Cylinders and Containers Ltd. V. UOI and Ors. The various initiatives taken by the CCI were also discussed.
The 3rd session started at 2:45 PM on the theme “Treatment of Vertical Restraints”, by Dr. Bidyadhar Majhi. He took off his lecture from Anti-Competitive Agreement, followed by explaining the two types of analysis namely: Per se Analysis and Rule of Reason(ROR) Analysis. The talk further also added knowledge on Vertical Restraints, its types and vertical entities. He explained the topic of Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Clause, its efficiency and its restrictions on competitions. In order to wrap the lecture, he discussed on a case namely ESYS Information Tech Pvt. Ltd. vs. Intel Semiconductor Ltd.
The 4th session commenced at 4:00 PM on a topic named “E-Commerce and Competition Issues”. The leading speaker in the same was Mr. Arpan Sharma. He initially discussed about market and its structure, growth and development of the markets. The participants were educated about E-Commerce, types of E-Commerce models and about the draft of consumer protection (E-commerce) rules, 2019. Mr. Sharma also gave brief introductions on concepts such as virtual competition, block building. He also discussed about Economies of Scale and Economies of Scope in his talk.
The one-day event was concluded by delivery of Vote of Thanks by Prof. Ipsita Das, Faculty Coordinator, Centre for studies in Business and Corporate Law. The participants were provided with certification of the National Seminar.