The Competition Law Team of DSK Legal advised, assisted, and successfully represented GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) and its wholly owned subsidiary GMR Aero Technic Limited (GAT) before the Competition Commission of India (CCI), successfully overturning the finding of the Director General of Investigation that GHIAL had abused its dominant position by denying market access to Air Works India (Engineering) Private Limited in order to favor its own subsidiary GAT for the provision of Line Maintenance Services to airlines at the Hyderabad Airport.
The team was successful in convincing the CCI of the legitimate operational requirements of GHIAL at the Airport and illogical and unsupported conclusions of the DG, and the CCI ultimately concluded that no case of abuse of dominant position was established and dismissed the case.
This outcome sets an important precedent in cases concerning denial of market access by a dominant enterprise and reaffirms that no violation under Competition Act, 2002 can be attributed, if the same is based on legitimate business requirements.
The team comprised Partners Mr. Abdullah Hussain and Kanika Chaudhary Nayar, Ms. Shambhavy Singh (Senior Associate), Sayan Kumar Panda (Associate), and Ishan Handa (Associate).