Government today said the Competition Commission of India (CCI) was likely to be fully operational by the mid of this year.Prem Chand Gupta, minister for corporate affairs, said: "An expert group will be formed in the next one week that will look into the selection of members of the Commission. CCI should be operationalised in the next 4-5 months."The expert body would comprise the Chief Justice of India, Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Secretary in the Ministry of Law and Justice, and two other experts.Gupta said the ministry had already appointed Nitish Sen Gupta as a member of the group. He said the incumbent competition regulator Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission would wind up the cases pending before it in a two-year time."The CCI Act has a two-year sunset clause for the Commission (MRTPC) and it would stop taking new cases on the day the CCI becomes operational," Gupta said.The CCI Amendment bill was passed by Parliament last year, after the Supreme Court raised objections to the original document.On the new Companies Act, Gupta informed that all procedures including consultation process had been completed by the Ministry."It took time to simplify the present Companies Act, 1965 as it is old and complicated. However, with all the procedures now complete, we would introduce the Act in the coming Budget session of Parliament," he said.
