Austere Systems Pvt. Ltd Vs Competition Commission of India (NCLAT Delhi)
NCLAT Delhi held that penalty as imposed by Competition Commission of India [CCI] on account of bid-rigging in soil testing tenders invited by Development of Agriculture, Government of Utter Pradesh against several companies and directors upheld.
Facts- The commission received a general complaint dated 07.08.2018 alleging bid-rigging in the tenders invited by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttar Pradesh for soil sample testing. The complaint related to alleged bid rigging in respect of two e-tenders namely, Tender 2018_AGRUP_210583_1 (Moradabad) dated 31.05.2018 (“Tender No. 1”) and Tender 2018_AGRUP_212591_1 (Bareilly) dated 18.06.2018 (‘Tender No. 2”), invited for the soil sample testing by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttar Pradesh.
These appeals arise from the final order and judgment passed by the Competition Commission of India on 04.04.2022 u/s. 27 of the Competition Act, 2002, wherein the Commission held that Appellants along with other bidders, had contravened Sections 3(3)(c) and 3(3)(d) r/w Section 3 (1) of the Act. The appeals have been filed u/s. 53 (b) of the Act challenging the impugned order of the Commission.
Conclusion- It is well established principle that in cases of alleged cartelization or anti-competitive practices, direct evidence of an agreement between parties is not required. Instead, a probabilistic standard of proof is sufficient, meaning that the existence of a cartel can be inferred from circumstantial evidence or behaviours.
