Natural justice required the competition regulator to issue an...

Natural justice required the competition regulator to issue an action-oriented notice before departing from the Director General's findings. The Tribunal held that the Commission's directions on disclosure of pricing or discounting policy and on end-use restrictions varied from the investigation report, yet no effective opportunity was given to rebut that proposed disagreement. That omission deprived the appellant of a fair hearing and vitiated the order to that extent. The impugned order was set aside and the matter remanded for fresh consideration after due notice, without any merits finding being affirmed.

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