History of Competition Law in India. Its an Emerging Area in the Field of Law
The establishment of British Rule in India left the Indian economy crippled. India served as a dumping ground for the machine made cloth and other factory goods from England and was reduced to a mere raw material supplying colony. After winning Independence against the political competition posed by the British Rulers for many years, India, post independence, started its era of fighting against economic competition, the only difference being that the threat which India faced was now not only restricted to the British rulers but to the whole world which considered India as a dream destination for celebrating the advantages of ‘Globalization and Liberalization’.
Winning Independence gave way to the entrance of many big firms into the Indian market exploring opportunities in various trades and businesses. The condition of the Indian market was very weak and vulnerable to face the might of these foreign firms, because India at that time neither had the resources nor the skilled workforce to convert, if at all, such resources to compete with these foreign firms. The technological and scientific capabilities were poor, industrialization was limited and lopsided. Agricultural sector exhibited features of feudal and semi-feudal institutions, resulting into low productivity. In brief, poverty was rampant and unemployment was widespread, both making for low general standard of living. These were the socio-economic settings in which the founding fathers had to chart out a programme of nation-building.
The Indian Government, although did not have the weapons to wage war against such fierce competition against the foreign firms but the Government did not fail to rule out the possible defences to resist the competition posed by the foreign firms to protect its own domestic market. The ‘Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1969’ turned out to be the most sought after ‘Defence Mechanism’.
The history of the Indian competitive legislation goes back to the
Winning Independence gave way to the entrance of many big firms into the Indian market exploring opportunities in various trades and businesses. The condition of the Indian market was very weak and vulnerable to face the might of these foreign firms, because India at that time neither had the resources nor the skilled workforce to convert, if at all, such resources to compete with these foreign firms. The technological and scientific capabilities were poor, industrialization was limited and lopsided. Agricultural sector exhibited features of feudal and semi-feudal institutions, resulting into low productivity. In brief, poverty was rampant and unemployment was widespread, both making for low general standard of living. These were the socio-economic settings in which the founding fathers had to chart out a programme of nation-building.
The Indian Government, although did not have the weapons to wage war against such fierce competition against the foreign firms but the Government did not fail to rule out the possible defences to resist the competition posed by the foreign firms to protect its own domestic market. The ‘Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act of 1969’ turned out to be the most sought after ‘Defence Mechanism’.
The history of the Indian competitive legislation goes back to the