The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed Coal India Ltd.'s case that the competition regulator has no jurisdiction over it.
The apex court dismissed the company's stance that the Competition Act, 2002, does not apply to it because it is governed by the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act.
The court also said that it is the government's domain to exempt an entity from the provisions of the Competition Act and the government cannot be made powerless in this aspect.
The appeal will now be heard by the top court on merits of the case.
During the proceedings, Coal India argued that since its primary purpose is to serve the common good, it stands on a different footing than other corporations. Coal India must be treated differently than any other company that might have a monopoly since it works for the common benefit of people, the state-owned coal miner had said.
The case reached the apex court after the Competition Commission of India, in 2013, concluded that Coal India and its three subsidiaries —Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd., Western Coalfields Ltd., and South Eastern Coal fields Ltd. — were guilty of abusing their dominant position.
The regulator had found that the state-run company and its subsidiaries supplied low-quality coal at high prices, retained the right to unilaterally terminate contracts with buyers, did not provide a fair dispute redressal mechanism, and preferred other state-owned companies over private buyers of coal.
The competition regulator had initially imposed a penalty of Rs 1733.05 crore, but after the Competition Appellate Tribunal sent the case back for fresh consideration, the fine was reduced to Rs 591.01 crore.
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