Competition Commission drops contempt charges against Chess Federation

The Competition Commission has dropped contempt proceedings against the All India Chess Federation (AICF), while directing it to comply with its orders in letter and spirit within stipulated timelines.

In the order dated July 24, the CCI took into consideration AICF's affidavit and decided to drop the proceedings initiated against the AICF under Section 42 of the Competition Act.

The contempt petition was filed by three chess players -- Karun Duggal, Gurpreet Pal Singh and Devendra Bajpai.

The AICF, in its affidavit had said that it had complied with the July 12, 2018 order and also requested the CCI to record satisfactory compliance of the orders passed by it and also close the proceedings against it under Section 42 of the Act.

As per Section 42 of the Competition Act, a person failing to comply with the orders of the Commission can be punished with a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh per day during which such non-compliance occurs, subject to a maximum fine of Rs 10 crore.

Further, if a ...