Report No. 250

24. Khaddar (Protection of Name) Act, Act 78 of 1950

Category: Intellectual Property Law

Recommendation: Repeal

This Act regulated the use of the words 'khaddar' and 'khadi' when applied as a trade description of woven materials. The Act mandated that the words 'khaddar' and 'khadi', whether in Hindi, English, or in any other language, when applied to any woven material, shall be deemed to be a trade description within the meaning of the Indian Merchandise Act, 1889. This was done to indicate that such material is cloth woven on handlooms in India from cotton, silk or woollen yarn or from a mixture of any two or all of such yarns.

The Indian Merchandise Act, 1889 has been repealed but a corresponding amendment has not been made in this Act. In fact, 'khadi' was registered as a mark registered under the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and the Khadi Mark Regulations, 2013 were issued for the purpose of authentication of genuine khadi. Hence, this Act is now redundant and can be repealed.