New Delhi: Accusing government of succumbing to pressures from the WTO (World Trade Organisation) lobby and the European Commission, CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) in Lok Sabha on December 16 stoutly opposed a bill which seeks to repeal the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Act of 1969, saying it suffered from a large number of infirmities and would be a ''disaster'' for the ailing industry.

Participating in a discussion on the Competition Bill, 2001, Rupchand Pal, CPM, said this was not the right time to bring forward such a legislation, negating goal of cooperative competition enshrined in the Constitution.

Globalisation did not mean that the country surrendered to all sorts of pressures, he said adding it would have been worthwhile to plug loopholes in the MRTP Act.

The Bill, moved by Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, provides for the establishment of a Competition Commission of India (CCI) to prevent practices having adverse effect on competition, to promote and sustain competition in markets and to protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade.

It also stipulates that cases pending before the MRTP Commission would be transferred to the CCI except those relating to unfair trade practices.

Congress Deputy Leader Shivraj Patil said there were apprehensions whether the industry and the consumer would benefit by this new legislation.

PTI