The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the appeal by three unions of the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) against lifting the ban on Malayalam filmmaker Vinayan. The apex court also said prima facie that the Competition Act (2002) is applicable to them even if they are trade unions, and they will need to pay the penalty as ordered by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) three years ago.
In 2014, Vinayan approached the CCI with a case against FEFKA, the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), two sub-unions of FEFKA (including the directors’ union and production executives’ union) and actors including Mammootty, Mohanlal and Dileep, for preventing technicians and artistes from working on his films.
Circulars were released to those who worked with Vinayan, warning them of consequences if they proceeded, Vinayan’s petition said.
Advocate Harshad Hameed, Vinayan’s lawyer, argued that this ‘ban’ amounted to an anti-competitive practice, denying a consumer’s right to a product.
The CCI asked its investigative wing to probe the case, which then set camp in Kochi and took statements from several artistes and technicians in the film industry. Based on the statements, the CCI reached the conclusion that the associations including AMMA, FEFKA and its two sub-unions had no right to issue such bans. The associations as well as individuals who headed them were given penalties of several lakh rupees each. It issued this order in 2017.
All the parties submitted appeals against this order to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). In March 2020, the NCLAT dismissed all appeals and held that even though FEFKA and its sub-unions were trade unions, they still came under the preview of the Competition Act.
In September 2020, FEFKA as well as the sub-unions approached the Supreme Court. The SC upheld the NCLAT verdict and said that no such ban, formal or informal, can be issued even by a trade union. They would also be liable to pay the penalty, the apex court maintained.
Watch: FEFKA's appeal dismissed by SC on Vinayan's ban