The Indian Competition Authority orders pharma companies and trade association to cease and desist from indulging in anti-competitive business practices (Alkem Laboratories / McLeod’s Pharmaceuticals / Bengal Chemists and Druggists Association)

KEY POINTS The CCI recognised that there is rarely any direct evidence of action in cases involving concerted action. It is normal for agreements relating to such activities to be entered into in a clandestine manner. In such situations, the evidence is limited, fragmentary and sparse. Hence, it is necessary to reconstruct certain details by deduction. In most cases, the existence of an anti-competitive practice or agreement has to be inferred from a number of coincidences and indicia which, taken together, may, in the absence of any other plausible explanation, constitute evidence of the existence of an anti-competitive