Dr. S. Chakravarthy, Member—Lakhanpal National Limited (hereinafter referred to as the respondent) is facing this enquiry into certain unfair trade practices attracting Section 36A(3)(b) of the MRTP Act, 1969 (Act for short). This enquiry was triggered by a complaint received from one Shri Uday Mohan, a resident of Delhi, alleging that the respondent has floated a contest inducing the customers to buy its products and that the contest is in violation of the Act. The Commission ordered a preliminary investigation into the alleged unfair trade practices perpetrated by the respondent. The Director General (Investigation and Registration) (DG for short) submitted his Preliminary Investigation Report (PIR) in which he has made a recommendation for the institution of an enquiry. Briefly, the facts are as under :

The respondent is a Public Limited Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 and is engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of electric dry battery cells. It has two factories — one at Baroda (Gujarat) and the other at Pithampur Industrial Area (Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh). The respondent is a joint venture with Matsushita Electric, a Japanese Company.

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