JUDGMENT :

Arun Mishra, J.

1. The appellants SCM Solifert Limited and another are in appeal under section 53T of the Competition Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) as against the final judgment and order dated 30.08.2016 passed in Appeal No.59 of 2015 by the Competition Appellate Tribunal thereby affirming the order passed by the Competition Commission of India under section 43A of the Act.

2. The Competition Commission of India initiated the proceedings against the appellants on whom due to the failure to notify a proposed combination as required under section 6(2) of the Act, the penalty of Rupees Two crores was imposed under section 43A of the Act. On 3.07.2013, the appellants had purchased 2,89,91,150 shares of Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited (in short referred to as “the MCFL”) constituting 24.46 paid up share capital of the MCFL on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

3. The first transaction of the acquisition of the shares was by way of the purchase of shares conducted through bulk and block deals. It was followed by press release dated 3.7.2013 by Deepak Fertiliser and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited filed with the Stock Exchanges, in compliance with the req