BHUBANESWAR: What it is going to be? Odisha Pahala Rasagola or Jagannath Rasagola?
Even as the war of words over Rasagola’s origin appears to subside in the media, the Odisha Government is examining legal angles for geographical indication (GI) registration for the sweet so that it can clinch the deal without much difficulty.
The Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises Department of the State Government recently sent a two-member team to Delhi to consult two legal firms that deal with intellectual property rights.
Led by Director, Industries Smruti Ranjan Pradhan, the team submitted its report in which it has suggested that GI tag for “Pahala Rasagola” will be difficult to secure since it may not have sufficient historical evidence which GI Registry seeks for such an application.
On the other hand, Jagannath Rasagola will be a fit case for registration, the report suggests adding that the Sri Jagannath Temple Administration or its sevayats body could become an applicant under Section 11(i) read with Rule 23 of the GI Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1991.
The Government also wanted to know from the two legal firms if it can challenge the GI registration of Banglar Raogulla through a cancellation and rectification application before the GI Registry.
One firm felt that such an effort would be an exercise in futility as Rasogulla is generic and West Bengal has been able to provide substantial evidence on basis of which the GI Registry took a decision to grant the tag.
The other firm, however, had a different view as it felt that the GI tag is merely to “protect a recipe.” There is no apparent uniqueness or quality, characteristics or reputation that are essentially attributable to West Bengal which appears in the statement of the case filed with the application, the firm noted.
“As such the principal criteria for qualifying as a GI are not met by Banglar Rasogulla. Additionally, the registration could affect the right of all those producing outside West Bengal who would like to legitimately describe their wares as Rasogullas,” the legal firm said.
Basing on the evidence produced by cultural researcher Asit Mohanty, the report suggests that the registration could be drawn in the name of Jagannath Rasagola while all coastal districts like Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara, Khurda and Nayagarh as one region must represent the claim of local manufacturers for the GI tag registration.It also concludes that rectification may not yield any result but could be a tedious process.