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4.2.22 It has been contended by SlSMA--TN that the social and economic objects of both the Acts are completely different. The object of the EC Act is to exercise complete or partial control over the production, supply and distribution of or trade and commerce in a commodity which is notified as an essential commodity, whereas the object of the Competition Act is to ensure free and fair competition in the market in respect of those goods and commodities which are primarily free trade commodities and do not come within the purview of any regulatory measures and ensure that the market forces determine the price. ln view of these, the commodities which fall under the Essential Commodities Act, by their very nature, fall outside the domain of Competition Act. Since the essential commodities are severally controlled and regulated, the concept of free trade and market forces do not apply to such commodities and are indeed alien to them. The provisions of the Competition Act cannot be made applicable to the sugar industry which operates under the stringent control of the government right from its production to ultimate supply in the market.

a 5'5 LIA . at under the Essential Commodities Act, control all aspects of zfihe §;..U.8' ndfist , right A holding of sugar. There can be no competition in such a controlled market, and hence to state that there exists or can exist free competition in the sugar industry is fundamentally fallacious.

4.2.73 It is also to be noted that despite being the later Act, the Competition Act will not have an overriding effect on the Essential Commodities Act as the latter is a special enactment applicable only to the commodities declared essential under it, whereas the former is applicable to all commodities, services, trade, commerce, etc. The Competition Act, though later Act, would not override the Essential Commodities Act in the event of conflict, since the latter is a special statute operating in a limited field. It is settled law that general things do not derogate from special things.

.,--'"' Essential Commodities Act is a special act governing certain essential covered therein, whereas the Competition Act is a general enactment fgag ed for=_tl,tie ) ' if; r g Llri purpose of ensuring fair competiticp. in the free trade of commodities,\wh.ie3h"are,n.ht,t. % N. covered by the Essential Commodities Act. The provisions of the Competition Act cannot by invoked in respect of a commodity which is notified under the Essential Commodities Act, in as much as an essential commodity is severely controlled and regulated and there is no freedom in the manufacture, distribution or the pricing of such commodities. 4.2.79 It has been replied that from the purchase of the raw material to the production and distribution, the sugar is severely controlled by the government. Non--Levy Sugar is also not completely free, and is also controlled. Though no price is fixed by the 'government for the non--levy sugar, it is also controlled by quarterly/monthly/ fortnightly/ weekly release orders by the government. While there is an onerous obligation on the part of Seller (sugar mills) to complete the quota within the month there is no corresponding obligation on buyer to have any time bound purchase of sugar. in view of the time constraints imposed by the release orders, the sugar mills are at the mercy of the traders, who exploit the situation by deferring the purchase of the sugar till the last minutes which results in depressing the price of the sugar. There are a large number of suppliers in the field and therefore it is next to impossible for such a large number of sugar mills to arrive at a common arrangement by forming a cartel and thereby influence the market forces. Therefore, any allegation with regard to its indulgence in anti--competitive activity is not correct.

5.39 While holding so, the Commission, however, also observes that the contention of the sugar mills is not tenable that since sugar is covered under EC Act, 1955, it is outside the scope of the Competition Act, 2002. The Commission observes that the two Acts are not mutually exclusive and a commodity which falls under EC Act , 1955 might also be subject matter of inquiry under the Competition Act. What is important is the extent to which a particular commodity covered under EC Act,1955 is, in addition, subject to the control and regulations of the government, and the impact of such control/regulation on the free play of market forces. If a commodity or industry, even though covered under EC Act, 1955 has been made free from control to behave in accordance with the market forces, the provisions of Competition Act will certainly apply in case of that particular commodity or industry.