In Brief
The Competition Commission of India appealed against the Competition Appellate Tribunal's reversal of a penalty for non-compliance with combination notification rules. Thomas Cook India Ltd., its subsidiary, and Sterling Holiday Resorts had executed multiple interconnected transactions—demerger, amalgamation, share subscriptions, and market purchases—but notified only the merger and amalgamation. The Supreme Court held that these transactions constituted a single composite combination and must be notified together. Market purchases could not be isolated to claim exemption. The Court upheld the Rs. 1 crore penalty, holding that breach of statutory obligation attracts penalty without requiring proof of malice or intent. Substance prevails over form in assessing combinations.
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