Untimely end of COMPAT

Regulatory reform should be more than mere inter se transfer of responsibilities

On May 26, the government of India initiated the process of implementing its budgetary announcement of merging eight autonomous regulatory tribunals under the pretext that it would reduce cost and improve the efficiency and working of such quasi-judicial agencies. One of the replaced tribunals was the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) which has now been merged with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). There is nothing available in the public domain, which suggests a consultation with the stakeholders had taken place before reaching this decision. It is noteworthy, when the UK government proposed to replace their antitrust regulator, the Office