JCB India Limited And Anr Vs Competition Commission of India And Anr (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court held that once the settlement is reached, the substratum of the proceedings itself no longer exists, thus Competition Commission of India [CCI] proceedings cannot continue and deserves to be disposed of.
Facts- These are two writ petitions arises out of disputes between Petitioner No.1-JCB India Limited and Petitioner No.2- JC Bamford Excavators Limited on one hand and Respondent No.2- M/S Bull Machines Private Ltd. (BMPL) on the other. Both the companies are manufacturers of `backhoe loaders’ – the Petitioners’ loader being ‘3DX BHL’ and BMPL’s loader being ‘Bull Smart’. The Respondent No.1 herein, is the Competition Commission of India.
The genesis of the dispute between the parties in these petitions, is a suit filed by JCB against BMPL seeking an injunction restraining infringement of copyright, piracy of registered design, passing off etc.
Conclusion- Held that in the present dispute also the substratum of the dispute being the design infringement action filed by JCB for protection of its registered designs, the said suit having itself being settled, in the opinion of this Court, the CCI proceeding cannot continue and deserves to be disposed of. Division Bench in Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (PUBL) v. Competition Commission of India & Anr. has held that once the settlement is reached, the substratum of the proceedings itself no longer exists. Thus, the powers of the CCI to proceed under its suo moto powers or on the basis of any other information which may be filed before it in accordance with law is fully preserved. With these observations, the application is allowed.
