On January 4, 2018, CCI levied a penalty of ₹1, 08,588 and ₹11,11,549 on the Chemists and Druggists Association of Baroda (‘CDAB’) and Federation of Gujarat State Chemists and Druggists Association (‘FGSCDA’) respectively. The penalty was calculated at 10% of the average annual income of financial years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14, for contravening Section 3 of the Act. The office bearers of CDAB and FGSCDA were also penalized for being actively responsible for engaging in anti-competitive conduct of their organizations.The informant, Reliance Agency (‘Reliance’), alleged that CDAB and FGSCDA limited the supply of drugs and medicines by mandating issuance of no objection certificates (‘NOC’) from the concerned chemists and druggists association prior to the appointment of stockists for the supply of drugs and medicines. It was also alleged that Abbott India Ltd. (‘Abbott’) was an ac- tive participant in such anti-competitive practices along with other parties, as it willingly adhered to these directives.It was observed by CCI that the allegation of ill-motives of Reliance in filing the above in- formation, made by CDAB and FGSCDA, has no relevance since the proceedings before CCI are inquisitorial in nature and therefore the locus of Reliance is not relevant in deciding whether the case filed before CCI should be entertained or not. Further, it was noted that as per the scheme of the Act, it is not necessary that there must be an informant to initiate an inquiry or investigation. Relying on the judgment passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Competition Commission of India v. Steel Authority of India Limited[1], CCI held that given the inquisitorial nature of the proceedings before CCI, it is not required to confine the scope of inquiry to the parties whose names are mentioned in information. CCI observed that the scope of inquiry is much broader and it is not restricted in its inquiry to investigate only the parties arrayed in the information.On the substantive allegations, further to the evidence collected by the Director General, CCI (‘DG’), which included statements of witnesses on cross-examination, CCI concluded that CDAB and FGSCDA had engaged in anti-competitive conduct and contravened Sections 3(3)(b) and 3(1) of the Act. It was observed that the requirement of an NOC posed a hindrance that dissuaded new and existing stockists from entering and expanding in the market and this practice amounted to an entry barrier for other pharmaceutical stockists.CCI also reviewed allegations against the FGSCDA’s practice of mandatorily requiring payment of Product Information Service (‘PIS’) charge in order to introduce new products in the market. CCI dismissed arguments made by CDAB and FGSCDA that the PIS charge was beneficial to pharmaceutical companies and found that on account of PIS charge pharmaceutical companies were unable to launch new products without first paying for the publication of their products in the FGSCDA magazine. Accordingly, CCI held that the practice of imposing mandatory PIS charges by FGCDA and CDAB resulted in limiting supplies in the market in contravention of Section 3(3)(b) read with Section 3(1) of the Act. In respect of Abbott, the DG noted that it was the only distributor of Novo Nordisk (‘Novo’) products. CCI noted that Abbott was neither in a position to appoint Reliance (who was not an authorised wholesaler of Abbott) as a stockiest, nor as a supplier of Novo products since it had a limited role in the supply of Novo products. Therefore, CCI agreed with the findings of the DG that Abbott could not be faulted for returning the order and demand draft of Reliance and advising it to approach Novo for supplies.With the exception of the Secretary of CDAB, CCI found that the respective presidents of CDAB and FGSCDA were responsible for the anti-competitive conduct of their respective associations, and accordingly imposed a penalty of 10 per cent of their average income under Sections 48(1) and (2) of the Act.AZB & Partners successfully represented Abbott in these proceedings. *Case No. 97 of 2013 [1] (2010) 10 SCC 744