LEGAL ANALYSIS: HARMONIOUS CONSTRUCTION VS. LEX SPECIALIS IN SWAPAN DEY V. CCI

AUTHOR – SUPRATIM RAY, STUDENT AT NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, TRIPURA

BEST CITATION – SUPRATIM RAY, LEGAL ANALYSIS: HARMONIOUS CONSTRUCTION VS. LEX SPECIALIS IN SWAPAN DEY V. CCI, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (5) OF 2026, PG. 389-391, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

Introduction

Intellectual property rights vis-a-vis competition laws have always posed questions of jurisdictional nature before the courts in India. In the case of Competition Commission of India v. Swapan Dey & Anr. (Civil Appeal No. 519 of 2026), the question of jurisdiction has been brought up once again to the fore. On 2 February 2026, the Supreme Court stayed the operation of paras 8 to 10 of the NCLAT judgment dated 30 October 2025, in Swapan Dey v. Competition Commission of India. According to the stay order, the NCLAT was under the misconception while considering that by virtue of the Patents Act, 1970 being a special legislation, it ousted the jurisdiction of the CCI to deal with complaints of abuse of dominance under section 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act, 2002.