JUDGMENT :

R.F. NARIMAN, J.

1. The present appeal by the Competition Commission of India raises several interesting questions relating to its functions under the Competition Act, 2002. The brief facts necessary to appreciate the controversy which arises in the present case are as follows:

An agreement dated 1st August, 2010 was entered into between respondent no.5, who was the broadcaster of a News Channel called “Day & Night News”, and respondent No.1 to 4 who are Multi System Operators (hereinafter referred to as “MSOs”) who carried the aforesaid channel to persons who watch Cable T.V. A channel placement agreement was entered into, on the same day, between the broadcaster and the MSOs, all of which are stated to belong to the Fast Away Group. By notices of termination dated 19thJanuary, 2011, the aforesaid agreements were terminated by relying on a clause of the said agreements which entitled them to do so on the mere giving of a thirty day notice. This being the case, respondent no.5 complained about the aforesaid termination. The Director General of Investigation looked into