In Brief
A cable TV multi-system operator (MSO) group holding 85% market share in Punjab and Chandigarh terminated a news broadcaster's channel placement agreement without proper reasons. The Competition Commission found this violated Section 4(2)(c) and imposed a penalty. The Supreme Court held that once dominance is established, competition between the parties is irrelevant—denial of market access by a dominant firm breaches the section regardless. However, since the broadcaster's extremely low ratings (3.8 GRP versus competitors' 7–35.6) justified the termination substantively, even though procedurally unlawful, the penalty was set aside.
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