BHUBANESWAR: In yet another twist to the Rasagola war between Odisha and West Bengal, the Geographical Indication (GI) Registry, Chennai has served a notice on West Bengal following a petition demanding rectification/removal of GI tag to Banglar Rasogolla accorded in 2017.
The notice was issued to the West Bengal State Food Processing and Horticulture Development Corporation, Patent Information Centre of West Bengal department of Higher Education, Science and Technology and the West Bengal Council of Science and Technology.
The petition was filed by Chairman of Regional Development Trust, Bhubaneswar Ramesh Chandra Sahoo. Hearing on the petition has been fixed on September 6, 2019. The hearing will take place at the Intellectual Property Office building of the GI Registry at Chennai, stated the notice issued by Senior Examiner of Trademarks and GI Prashanth Kumar S Bhairappanavar. “In case of non-appearance, the case will be decided as per GI Act and Rules based on the documents available with the office,” the notice read.
Sahoo, in his petition, filed before the GI registry on February 13, 2018 had challenged the GI Tag accorded to Banglar Rasogolla in November, 2017. The petitioner had questioned the information furnished by West Bengal for getting the GI tag for Banglar Rasogolla. He had stated that Odisha was not given a chance to explain its stance when West Bengal applied for the GI status.
“The book on the basis of which West Bengal had claimed GI status for Banglar Rasogola states that ‘Chhena’ prepared from milk, which is an animal product, is not offered to the Lord at Puri Jagannath Temple. This is baseless and an attempt to hurt religious sentiments of Odias,” Sahoo told Express. “When Odisha Rasagola is accorded GI tag on the basis of the fact that is it linked to Jagannath culture for over 800 years, what is the justification of according geographical indication to Banglar Rasogolla, which is just 150 years old as claimed by West Bengal?” Sahoo questioned.