In Brief
The Supreme Court held that while the CCI has jurisdiction to investigate alleged anti-competitive agreements in the telecom sector, it cannot do so prematurely. The Court established a 'balance of jurisdiction' approach: TRAI, as the specialized sectoral regulator, must first determine whether telecom operators violated licence conditions and Quality of Service regulations regarding provision of Points of Interconnection. Only after TRAI concludes these foundational inquiries and returns its findings can the CCI exercise jurisdiction to investigate whether the conduct also constitutes anti-competitive practices under the Competition Act. The Court upheld the High Court's decision quashing the CCI's prima facie order as premature, though clarified that writ petitions challenging such orders are maintainable when they raise jurisdictional issues.
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