Now Reading: Liquor bodies challenge Kerala’s Jawan Rum preference in SC
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Liquor bodies challenge Kerala’s Jawan Rum preference in SC
The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) has moved the Supreme Court against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ruling that upheld the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) decision to…
The Story in Brief
The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) has moved the Supreme Court against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ruling that upheld the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) decision to close a case on alleged abuse of dominance by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC). The CIABC and another industry body had complained in 2021 that KSBC favoured state-owned Jawan Rum over private brands through unfair purchase prices, one-sided tender conditions, and delayed payments. The CCI found insufficient evidence of harm to competition in 2021, and the NCLAT upheld that order in May, saying the preference was a state policy.
The CIABC now contends that the NCLAT failed to consider that the preferential treatment distorts competition. The Association of Distillers, Brewers and Vintners of India is among the respondents in the Supreme Court appeal.
The Indian Opinion
The narrative that KSBC's preference for Jawan Rum is either a straightforward state policy or a clear abuse of monopoly misses nuance. State-run liquor monopolies exist in many states, but the line between legitimate policy and anti-competitive practice is thin. The CCI and NCLAT both found no concrete evidence of market harm, yet the CIABC's complaint of delayed payments and arbitrary pricing is not frivolous. The Supreme Court must now decide if regulators applied the right test for abuse of dominance, specifically, whether the absence of proven consumer harm lets a state-owned entity pick winners arbitrarily.
Source: barandbench.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
