In Shri Rajat Verma v Public Works (B&R) Department, Government of Haryana & Ors, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) refused to initiate action against the Public Works Department of the state of Haryana on a complaint filed by a private contractor accusing the department of having abused its dominant position while tendering for and executing road-related construction contracts.
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The CCI observed that the department is entrusted with the responsibility of construction and maintenance of roads, bridges and government buildings in Haryana. The department has set up offices and bodies around the state such as Haryana State Roads and Bridges Development Corporation, Haryana Rural Roads and Infrastructure Development Agency, and Haryana State Buildings & Roads Academy of Research and Training to accomplish those tasks. The department’s activities cannot be covered in the definition of “enterprise” because it is not directly engaged in any economic or commercial activities. The role of the department is limited to providing infrastructural facilities to the public without any commercial consideration.
Since the department cannot be considered as an enterprise in terms of the provisions of section 2(h) of the Competition Act, 2002, the provisions of section 4 of the act cannot be attracted in the matter. Accordingly, the CCI held that no prima facie case was made out against the department for making a reference to the Director General to conduct an investigation into the matter.
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The dispute digest is compiled by Bhasin & Co, Advocates, a corporate law firm based in New Delhi. The authors can be contacted at lbhasin@bhasinco.in or lbhasin@gmail.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.
