The government has begun a search process to find the next Chairperson of Competition Commission of India (CCI) as the tenure of outgoing chairperson D K Sikri expires July this year. Sikri had assumed office in January 2016 as its third Chairperson. He had superannuated as secretary, Department of Justice on 31 July 2013. Former and outgoing civil servants have 28 more days in hand to apply for the post. To fill the vacancy, the Corporate Affairs Ministry had invited applications on 19 May 2018. Many prospective names have started doing rounds. Those who being seen as the most prospective ones are: former Corporate Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray, outgoing UP Chief Secretary Rajive Kumar, outgoing Union Commerce Secretary Mrs Rita Teotia, former DIPAM Secretary Niraj Gupta and outgoing Secretary (MHRD) Anil Swarup. The Commission was established in 2003 to replace the erstwhile MRTP Commission and draws its power from the Competition Act, 2002. It gained importance in recent years with all major deals requiring its approval which include Walmart's mega-billion-dollar acquisition of Flipkart.