Assam: Gauhati HC denies plea to halt CCI investigation against Dalmia Cement

Guwahati: Dalmia Cement's attempt to halt an investigation by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) into allegations of bid rigging in tenders for the purchase of Oil Well Cement (OWC) turned unsuccessful as the Gauhati High Court in Assam dismissed its plea.

The Gauhati High Court dismissed Dalmia Cement's plea, ruling that the CCI had not conducted an overly broad or exploratory investigation and had not exceeded its jurisdiction.

The court did, however, direct the CCI to provide Dalmia Cement with complete sets of documents, excluding those for which ONGC claimed confidentiality.

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The CCI investigation was initiated in November 2020 after ONGC complained that Shree Digvijay Cement, Dalmia Cement, and India Cements had colluded by quoting either identical rates or very similar rates in tenders for the purchase of OWC between 2013 and 2018.

This action contravened the provisions of Section 3 of the Competition Act, 2002, which prohibits anti-competitive agreements, including cartelization and bid rigging.

Dalmia Cement argued that the CCI did not consider the fact that there were only a few suppliers of OWC in India and that mere price parallelism should not be sufficient to warrant an investigation.

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They also claimed that the CCI's investigation arm exceeded its authority by conducting a broad inquiry and failed to provide Dalmia Cement with essential documents.

However, the High Court found that the CCI had not conducted an overly broad or exploratory investigation and had not exceeded its jurisdiction.

It pointed out that the CCI's notice clearly outlined the nature of the investigation, and it was based on the information received from ONGC, indicating a prima facie case for an investigation.