On Friday, the Supreme Court revived the penalties imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation (KFEF) and its office-bearers, holding them guilty of indulging in anti-competitive practices by obstructing the exhibition of Tamil and Malayalam films in certain theatres.
The Division Bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice K.V. Viswanathan, stated, “We allow the appeal and set aside the judgement of the COMPAT dated February 4, 2016… We restore the findings of the Commission dated September 8, 2015 in its entirety.”
The dispute originated from complaints lodged by Crown Theaters, which accused KFEF and its office-bearers of orchestrating a boycott to prevent the screening of newly released Tamil and Malayalam films at its premises. The CCI, after investigation, found the allegations substantiated and imposed penalties, also directing that Ahamed and Bobby be barred from associating with the Federation for two years.
When challenged, the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) in February 2016 partly interfered with the CCI’s order by setting aside penalties against the two officials while retaining them against KFEF. This prompted the CCI to approach the Apex Court.
The Bench affirmed the disqualification imposed on KFEF’s president P.V. Basheer Ahamed and General Secretary M.C. Bobby, observing, “The directions to KFEF not to associate with its president P.V. Basheer Ahamed and general secretary M.C. Bobby with its affairs including administration, management and governance of the federation for a period of two years shall commence from December 1.”
The Court further ordered compliance reporting within a strict timeline, directing, “Compliance to be filed before the Commission within three months from today with regard to all the directions imposed by the Commission in its order dated September 8, 2015.”
Source PTI
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