Former Air India Executive Director Jitendra Bhargava had filed the appeal questioning the decision of CCI to approve the Jet-Etihad deal without carrying out a detailed assessment.
The tribunal's ruling would come as a relief for Jet and Etihad since the deal has run into various regulatory hurdles. The deal also marks the first instance of foreign direct investment in an Indian carrier by an overseas airline.
Pronouncing its ruling on the appeal, Compat Chairman V S Sirpurkar on Thursday said that there is ‘no locus standi’ for the appellant and dismissed the appeal. In November last year, CCI approved Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airway's acquisition of a 24 per cent stake in Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways.
The regulator had said that the deal does not raise concerns of adverse competition issues.
Dismissing the appeal after lengthy arguments by both parties over a period of time, The Competition Appellate Tribunal said it was not convinced that Bhargava is in any manner an aggrieved person by the approval of the deal.
The tribunal also noted that it was not expressing any opinion on the merit of the Competition Commission of India order. Regarding Bhargava's counsel's argument that the deal could result in higher air fares in some routes, Compat said that such a contention would be premature.
Bhargava had contended that CCI had failed to carry out an assessment of the appreciable adverse effect on competition and ‘placed all passengers and indeed the entire airline industry into a grave risk of suffering irreparable damage and permanently eliminating competition’.
The CCI majority order, passed by its Chairman Ashok Chawla and four members, had said that the Jet-Etihad combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition. One CCI member, in his dissenting order, had observed that the deal could adversely affect competition in the international air travel market.
The deal, first announced in April 2013, has already gone through many rounds of regulatory hurdles, mostly on differences of opinion about whether Etihad was getting full or joint control of Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways.
Jet scrip flies 7%, closes up 3%
Mumbai: Aviation stocks edged higher on Thursday, led by Jet Airways which gained over 3 per cent, following the RBI extending the period for overseas borrowings for airlines to next March and the Competition Appellate Tribunal dismissing a plea against the Jet-Etihad deal.
The Reserve Bank had on Wednesday extended the deadline for the aviation sector to raise funds through external commercial borrowings till March 2015, a move that provided relief to the sector facing cash-crunch. As per the earlier guidelines, the scheme was initially valid till December 31, 2013.
Reacting to the developments, shares of Jet Airways, jumped 7.04 per cent to touch an intra-day high of Rs 237.85 on the BSE. At the end of the trading session the stock was quoted at Rs 228.85, up 3.09 per cent from its previous closing price.
Similar movement was seen on the SpiceJet counter, where the stock opened on a bullish note at Rs 13.32, then gained further ground and touched an intra-day high of Rs 14.05 on the BSE. Market analysts said the jump was largely a reaction to the RBI move of extending the ECB borrowing window. Moreover, Jet Airways counter also gathered momentum after the favourable decision from the Compat.
Reliance Industries rose 1.34 per cent on reports that the company has bagged two offshore exploration blocks in Myanmar. Bharti Airtel gained 4 per cent on positive feedback by stock brokers.
The tribunal's ruling would come as a relief for Jet and Etihad since the deal has run into various regulatory hurdles. The deal also marks the first instance of foreign direct investment in an Indian carrier by an overseas airline.
Pronouncing its ruling on the appeal, Compat Chairman V S Sirpurkar on Thursday said that there is ‘no locus standi’ for the appellant and dismissed the appeal. In November last year, CCI approved Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airway's acquisition of a 24 per cent stake in Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways.
The regulator had said that the deal does not raise concerns of adverse competition issues.
Dismissing the appeal after lengthy arguments by both parties over a period of time, The Competition Appellate Tribunal said it was not convinced that Bhargava is in any manner an aggrieved person by the approval of the deal.
The tribunal also noted that it was not expressing any opinion on the merit of the Competition Commission of India order. Regarding Bhargava's counsel's argument that the deal could result in higher air fares in some routes, Compat said that such a contention would be premature.
Bhargava had contended that CCI had failed to carry out an assessment of the appreciable adverse effect on competition and ‘placed all passengers and indeed the entire airline industry into a grave risk of suffering irreparable damage and permanently eliminating competition’.
The CCI majority order, passed by its Chairman Ashok Chawla and four members, had said that the Jet-Etihad combination is not likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition. One CCI member, in his dissenting order, had observed that the deal could adversely affect competition in the international air travel market.
The deal, first announced in April 2013, has already gone through many rounds of regulatory hurdles, mostly on differences of opinion about whether Etihad was getting full or joint control of Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways.
Jet scrip flies 7%, closes up 3%
Mumbai: Aviation stocks edged higher on Thursday, led by Jet Airways which gained over 3 per cent, following the RBI extending the period for overseas borrowings for airlines to next March and the Competition Appellate Tribunal dismissing a plea against the Jet-Etihad deal.
The Reserve Bank had on Wednesday extended the deadline for the aviation sector to raise funds through external commercial borrowings till March 2015, a move that provided relief to the sector facing cash-crunch. As per the earlier guidelines, the scheme was initially valid till December 31, 2013.
Reacting to the developments, shares of Jet Airways, jumped 7.04 per cent to touch an intra-day high of Rs 237.85 on the BSE. At the end of the trading session the stock was quoted at Rs 228.85, up 3.09 per cent from its previous closing price.
Similar movement was seen on the SpiceJet counter, where the stock opened on a bullish note at Rs 13.32, then gained further ground and touched an intra-day high of Rs 14.05 on the BSE. Market analysts said the jump was largely a reaction to the RBI move of extending the ECB borrowing window. Moreover, Jet Airways counter also gathered momentum after the favourable decision from the Compat.
Reliance Industries rose 1.34 per cent on reports that the company has bagged two offshore exploration blocks in Myanmar. Bharti Airtel gained 4 per cent on positive feedback by stock brokers.