New Delhi, Nov 6 : The Competition Commission has rejected the complaint from actor Ajay Devgn against Yash Raj Films for alleged abuse of dominant position in the Hindi film industry, saying that the plea does not have any merit.
Actor-producer Devgn's complaint came ahead of the release this month of films by both the parties involved.
“The Commission has rejected the complaint of Ajay Devgn against Yash Raj Films as there was no merit in it.
The complaint does not fall under any area that violates Competition rules,” said a senior official of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
The fair trade regulator has not found any violation of Section 3 of the Competition Act that relates to anti-competitive agreements.
According to the official, the order on the plea was passed last evening.
Ajay Devgn Films Pvt Ltd had moved the CCI claiming that YRF was using its dominant position to ask exhibitors to dedicate more screens to its upcoming release, ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan', than for his film ‘Son of Sardaar' on November 13.
The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the CCI to “expeditiously” decide on Ajay Devgn Films' complaint that its ‘Son of Sardaar' was not getting enough single-screen theatres as Yash Raj Films has used its dominant position for better exhibition of ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan'.
Yash Raj Films, last week, had denied monopolisation of exhibitors.
“For a company like ours, which has maintained the highest standards of work ethics and fair play, this has really come as a shock.
We would like to clarify at the outset that we still haven't received any notice from the Commission and will suitably represent our stance if and when called upon to do so...
“A Yash Chopra/Shah Rukh Khan movie, coming after a gap of 8 long years, did not need any coercion for contractual screening,” YRF had said in a statement.
