COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA Vs. CO-ORDINATION COMMITTEE OF ARTISTS AND TECHNICIANS OF W.B. FILM AND TELEVISION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal raises an interesting and important question of law touching upon the width and scope of jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India (for short, the 'CCI') under Sec. 3 of the Competition Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'). Before we mention the nuances of the issue that has arisen for consideration, it would be apposite to take stock of the background facts under which the issue needs determination, as the factual canvass would provide clarity of the situation that has led to the dispute between the parties. Respondent No. 2 herein, Mr. Sajjan Kumar Khaitan, is the proprietor of M/s. Hart Video having his establishment in Kolkata. He is in the business of distributing video cinematographic TV serials and telecasting regional serials in the States of Eastern India, which includes the State of West Bengal. M/s. BRTV, Mumbai, which is the producer of T.V. programmes, had produced T.V. Serial named 'Mahabharat', original version whereof was in Hindi. The said BRTV entrusted the sole and exclusive rights of 'Mahabharat' to M/s. Magnum T.V. Serials to dub the Hindi version of the said serial in Bangla with further rights to exploit its Satellite, Pay TV, DTH, IPTV, Video, Cable TV and internet rights till Sept., 2016. Magnum TV, in turn, appointed Hart Video as the sub-assigner to dub the said serial 'Mahabharat' in Bangla language, which it did. Thereafter, for the purposes of telecasting the said dubbed serial, an agreement was executed for the time slot, on revenue sharing basis, with M/s. Bengal Media Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata, which is the owner of 'Channel 10', as well as with M/s. Calcutta Television Network Private Ltd., Kolkata, which is the owner of CTVN+ Channel. These two channels were given hard disks of four episodes of the serial on 2nd Feb., 2011 and 12th Feb., 2011. An advertisement was placed in Daily Newspapers on 19th Feb., 2011 informing the public at large that serial 'Mahabharat' would be telecast in Bangla on Channel 10 at 10.00 a.m. in the morning and on CTVN+ at 10.00 p.m. every Sunday.

(2.) Certain producers in Eastern India have formed an association called Eastern India Motion Picture Association (for short, 'EIMPA'). Likewise, the artists and technicians of film and television industry in West Bengal have formed an association known as 'Committee of Artists and Technicians of West Bengal Film and Television Investors (hereinafter referred to as the 'Coordination Committee').

(3.) Telecasting of serial 'Mahabharat' in Bangla after dubbing it in the said language from the original produced Hindi language was not palatable to EIMPA or the Coordination Committee. In their perception, serials produced in other languages and shown on the T.V. Channels after dubbing them in Bangla would affect the producers of that origin and, in turn, would also adversely affect the artists and technicians working in West Bengal. The apprehension was that it may deter production of such serials in Bangla because of the entry of serials produced in other languages and shown to the public by dubbing the same in their language. Because of this reason, on 18th Feb., 2011 CTVN+ received a letter from the Coordination Committee to stop the telecast of the dubbed serial 'Mahabharat'. Letter dated 1st March, 2011 to the similar effect was written by EIMPA to CTVN+. Identical demands were made to this Channel by the Coordination Committee as well. It was stated in this letter that such a step was necessary in the interest of healthy growth of film and television industry in West Bengal. It was also alleged that for the last thirteen years there was a convention and practice adopted in the said region not to dub any programme from other languages in Bangla and telecast them in West Bengal. Threat was also extended to CTVN+ as well as Channel 10 that in case the telecast is not stopped, their channels would face non-cooperation from these two bodies, i.e., EIMPA and the Coordination Committee.