Supreme Court Stays NCLAT Order Affirming Penalty of Rs. 751.83 crore on United Breweries

Supreme Court Stays NCLAT Order Affirming Penalty of Rs. 751.83 crore on United Breweries

The Supreme Court stayed the order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) which had upheld the penalty of Rs. 751.83 crore and CCI recovery proceeding imposed on Heineken's Indian subsidiary i.e., United Breweries Limited (UBL), by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

Previously, the CCI on 24th September, 2021 found UBL, SABMiller India Limited (now renamed, as Anheuser Busch InBev India Ltd.) Carlsberg India Private Limited, and All India Brewers' Association guilty of cartelization in the beer market and had imposed a total penalty of about Rs. 862 crore. UBL was ordered to pay Rs. 751.83 crore.

The CCI order was affirmed by the NCLAT in its judgment dated 23 December 2022. The NCLAT upheld, the Rs. 873-crore penalty imposed by fair trade regulator CCI on UBL and other beer makers. A two-member bench said after examining the materials and considering the arguments, it was of opinion that the "appellants had already admitted in the leniency application regarding their involvement in the cartelization."

The Company had filed a Civil Appeal against the order of the NCLAT before the Supreme Court on 30th January, 2023.

The Apex Court while directing the stay order also directed the company to deposit an additional 10 per cent total penalty amount (over and above the amount already subsisting ten per cent deposit before the NCLAT).

UBL in a Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) filing said, "the Company will comply with the directions and the said additional 10% penalty amount shall be deposited within the stipulated time as mentioned in the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court."