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The IPAB bench comprising board's chairman Justice K N Basha and technical member (trade mark) Sanjeev Kumar Chaswal has directed the GI registry to number the matter.
The move by IPAB came amidst protests from rice producers, processors and the state government of Madhya Pradesh (MP), against the Apeda's application for registration of basmati as GI in class 30 under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999, without including area in MP.
The appeal was against the order of assistant registrar of the GI Registry, issued on December 31, 2013, which allowed the opposition by various parties, including the department of farmer welfare and agriculture the development of MP, Madhya Kshetra Basmati Growers Association Samiti based in Raisen district among others against the application of Apeda.
The dispute emerged as Apeda filed an application with the GI Registry to register the name basmati for rice covering Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and a part of Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, while not covering MP.
The rice growers and producers claimed the rice produced in MP, particularly Morena, Bhind, Gwalior, Sheopur, Datia, Shirpur, Guna, Vidisha, Raiben, Sehore, Hoshangabad, Jabalpur and Narsinghpur, has the required characteristics of rice variety mentioned in the application of Apeda.
They informed the assistant registrar of the GI Registry the non-inclusion of MP in the basmati growing area would have an adverse affect on the lives of farmers who are mainly depending upon basmati cultivation and its exports.
The state government has also been providing support to the rice growers to produce basmati rice, they informed the registry.
However, Apeda has denied the rice in MP has characteristics of basmati and even if assuming that it has all the characteristics, it also required the element of reputation and correspondent public perception, which are equally determinant for a GI registration.
The assistant registrar, in his order, observed it is important to demarcate the actual production area even up to the level of village panchayat, since the geographical area of protection is an important feature in granting GI tags and the area has to be defined by the clarity and without any ambiguity.
Allowing the opposition of the MP basmati growers, the assistant registrar directed Apeda to file an amended application including the uncovered area, with map of the region clearly demarcating the area of production within 60 days from the date of the order.
According to the available information, the basmati growers and the companies argued the total cultivation of basmati rice was 26,000-29,000 hectare in MP.
The companies also claimed a total of 45,12,444 quintals of basmati was cultivated in 2009, of which a majority was exported.
According to reports, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had sent a letter to Prime Minister last week, expressing his dismay on Apeda's move to appeal against the assistant registrar's order, “thereby hurting the legal and legitimate rights of farmers in the state.”
However, Apeda said the intervention of the MP government would unnecessarily delay the process of protecting traditional basmati rice growers of India.
