munotes®
Sign in
Home / SPPU / Solved Papers / LL.B. (Three Years) / Sem 4 / Competition Law / Apr 2025 / Solutions

LL.B. (Three Years) Sem 4 Competition Law Apr 2025 Question Paper with Solutions

SPPU Solved Question Papers

Competition Law

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

LL.B. (Three Years) · Sem 4

Apr 2025 Examination

munotes.in

Mumbai

munotes.in

First published on munotes.in on 5 November 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

Passages from this volume may be quoted, in print, online or by an AI system, with credit: name munotes.in and link to this volume's page. The volume may not be reproduced as a whole. Full terms at munotes.in/content-license.

munotes.in is an independent study resource for students of Savitribai Phule Pune University. It is not affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University, and is not endorsed by it.

The University does not publish an official answer key for this paper. The answers in this volume are model answers, written to show how a full-mark answer is built. They are a study aid, not an authority on what an examiner marked.

The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Savitribai Phule Pune University at the Apr 2025 examination.

munotes.in ii

Contents

The questions below are the paper as Savitribai Phule Pune University set it at the Apr 2025 examination, in the order it was set.

MarksPage

munotes.in iii

The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the Apr 2025 examination, reproduced as Savitribai Phule Pune University set them, in the order it set them. Nothing has been reworded, added or left out. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.

Duration 3 hours  ·  Total marks 70  ·  13 questions answered

How to use this volume

Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.

Read the original question paper

munotes.in iv

SECTION I

PART A

Answer any two · 30 Marks

munotes.in 1

Q1)Explain the relationship between Competition Policy and Competition Law.[15]

Answer

For full marks, cover: the meaning of competition and why it matters; the meaning of competition policy and of competition law; the Raghavan Committee's words (genus and species; "teeth"); what competition policy contains (industrial, small scale, privatisation, trade, State monopolies, exit, and the law itself); how the Competition Act 2002 joins policy to law (Preamble; section 49 advocacy; sections 21, 21A); India's position (no adopted national policy; the Draft National Competition Policy 2011); the relationship with sectoral regulation (CCI v. Bharti Airtel); policy, law and economic development; a table; a conclusion.

Introduction

Competition is firms striving independently for the buyers' patronage. The Raghavan Committee adopted that idea in its report of May 2000. Competition brings lower prices, better quality, more choice and innovation. But it is fragile. Rivals can agree to stop competing, a large firm can push others out, and two rivals can merge.

munotes.in 2

A government protects competition in two ways. It shapes markets through policy, and it punishes harmful conduct through law. The relationship between the two is the subject of this answer.

1. The meanings

Competition policy is everything a government does to keep markets competitive. It is the set of government policies and laws that determine the conditions of competition in markets.

Competition law is the one part of that policy that a court or commission can enforce. It is the legal instrument by which competition policy is enforced against the anti-competitive conduct of enterprises. In India, it is the Competition Act, 2002.

2. The Raghavan Committee's words

The High Level Committee on Competition Policy and Law, chaired by S.V.S. Raghavan, explained the relationship in one passage. It said: "Competition Policy and Competition Law need to be distinguished. The former can be regarded as a genus, of which, the latter is a specie. Competition Law provides necessary teeth to the Authority concerned to enforce and implement the Competition Policy."

Three ideas follow from it.

munotes.in 3
  1. Genus and species. A genus is the larger family; a species is one member of it. Competition law is one tool of competition policy, alongside trade, industrial and regulatory policy.
  2. Teeth. Policy states aims. Law gives an authority the power to enforce them against particular firms.
  3. The aim. The Committee said competition policy has, as its central economic goal, "the preservation and promotion of the competitive process".

3. Why a law alone is not enough

A country can pass a strong competition law and still have little competition. Suppose the government licenses only three firms to make cement, keeps imports out with high duties and reserves the product for small units. No commission can make that market competitive by fining the three firms. The barriers come from policy, not from the firms.

That is why the Committee insisted on a competition policy first. It warned that without one "we may find ourselves with a first class competition law but no competition".

munotes.in 4

4. What competition policy contains

The Committee listed the government policies that can support or work against competition.

  1. Industrial policy. Until 1991, a factory needed an industrial licence. The Industrial Policy Statement of 24 July 1991 abolished licensing in all but a few industries, so entry became free.
  2. Reservation for small scale industry. Some products could be made only by small units. The Committee recommended reducing and finally ending reservation.
  3. Privatisation and regulatory reform. The public sector's monopoly ended in most industries. Where a sector stays regulated, its regulator should also act with competition in mind.
  4. Trade policy. Import licences, quotas and high tariffs protect domestic firms from foreign rivals. Lower tariffs bring competition from abroad.
  5. State monopolies. Government enterprises should face the same rules as private ones. The Act does this: a Government department engaged in economic activity is an "enterprise" under section 2(h), except for its sovereign functions.
munotes.in 5
  1. Labour policy and exit. Firms that fail must be able to close.
  2. Competition law itself. The Competition Act, 2002, with a Commission to enforce it.

The Committee said these pre-requisites form the foundation on which competition policy and competition law must be built.

5. How the Act joins policy to law

1. The Preamble. The Act begins "keeping in view of the economic development of the country". It aims to prevent practices having an adverse effect on competition, and to promote and sustain competition. It also aims to protect consumers' interests and to ensure freedom of trade. These are policy aims written into law.

2. Competition advocacy (section 49). This is the bridge between policy and law.

  1. The Central Government, when formulating a policy on competition or any other matter, may refer it to the Commission (section 49(1)). A State Government may do the same. The Commission gives its opinion on the policy's possible effect on competition.
  2. The Commission must give its opinion within sixty days.
munotes.in 6
  1. The opinion does not bind the Government (section 49(2)).
  2. The Commission shall take suitable measures to promote competition advocacy, create awareness and impart training about competition issues (section 49(3)).

3. References between regulators (sections 21, 21A). A statutory authority dealing with a matter that touches competition may refer it to the Commission (section 21). The Commission may refer an issue to a statutory authority (section 21A).

6. Policy, sector regulation and law: the leading case

In Competition Commission of India v. Bharti Airtel Ltd., AIR 2019 SC 113, Reliance Jio informed the Commission that three incumbent telecom operators had cartelised to deny it enough points of interconnection. The Supreme Court held that interconnection issues were jurisdictional facts for the authorities under the TRAI Act. Only after TRAI decided them could the Commission examine whether the conduct was anti-competitive. The Commission's exercise was premature.

The case shows the relationship in practice. Sector policy and its regulator come first on technical questions, and competition law then deals with anti-competitive conduct.

munotes.in 7

7. India's position

India has a competition law but no formally adopted national competition policy. A Draft National Competition Policy was prepared by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in 2011 and circulated, but it was not adopted. So the policy is found in the separate industrial, trade, investment and regulatory policies, and in the Act's own Preamble. This makes advocacy under section 49 all the more important.

8. Policy, law and economic development

  1. Growth needs efficient firms. The Committee described competition as becoming, over time, "a dynamic process of sustained economic growth".
  2. Open markets need rules. After 1991, Indian firms faced foreign rivals and foreign cartels. A domestic law protects the Indian market from them.
  3. Protect the process, not the firm. The Committee warned against protecting "the competitor and not the competitive system".

The two compared

munotes.in 8
PointCompetition policyCompetition law
What it isall government measures shaping competitionthe enforceable rules against anti-competitive conduct
Relationthe genusa species of it (Raghavan Committee)
Who makes itCentral and State Governments, regulatorsParliament: the Competition Act, 2002
Who enforces iteach ministry through its own policythe Competition Commission of India
Binding?a policy statement is not enforceable in itselfbinding; contravention leads to orders and penalties (sections 27, 48)
How the Commission speaksopinion and advocacy (section 49)inquiry and orders (sections 19, 26, 27)
munotes.in 9

Conclusion

Conclusion. Competition policy is the genus: all the industrial, trade, privatisation, regulatory and exit policies that shape how far markets can compete. Competition law is a species of it: the enforceable rules that give the policy "teeth". In India it is the Competition Act, 2002, enforced by the Commission. A law without a supporting policy may give "a first class competition law but no competition", as the Raghavan Committee warned. The Act joins the two through its Preamble, competition advocacy (section 49) and references between regulators (sections 21, 21A). Sector regulators decide technical questions first (CCI v. Bharti Airtel). India still has no formally adopted national competition policy.

munotes.in 10

The rest of the answers

The rest of the answers come with the SPPU LL.B. (Three Years) Semester 4 solved papers.

You have read the question paper and its first answer in full. Buy the solved papers once and you can read every answer of every solved paper in this semester.

Solved papers: ₹499 Already bought it? Sign in

The question paper itself stays open to everyone.

Issue

Found an error in this volume? Report it and we will check it against the paper.

Done!