All Kerala Gold & Silver Merchant ... vs Union Of India
2023 Latest Caselaw 4143 Ker

W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch       :1



                IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                                 PRESENT

                THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHAJI P.CHALY

         FRIDAY, THE 31ST DAY OF MARCH 2023 / 10TH CHAITHRA, 1945

                         WP(C) NO. 9820 OF 2023

PETITIONER/S:

             ALL KERALA GOLD & SILVER MERCHANT ASSOCIATION
             REPRESENTED BY ITS TREASURER MR. ABDUL NAZAR
             AGED 56 YEARS, S/O. SHIHABUDEEN KUNJU, KOICKAL
             JEWELLERS, KARUNAGAPALLY, KOLLAM, PIN - 690 544.
             BY ADV A.CHANDRA BABU


RESPONDENT/S:

     1       UNION OF INDIA
             REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF CONSUMER
             AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION, DEPARTMENT OF
             FOOD & PD, KRISHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI, PIN - 110 001.
     2       THE DIRECTOR GENERAL BIS
             BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS ( BIS) HEAD QUARTER, 9
             BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR MARG, NEW DELH, PIN - 110 002.
     3       THE CONVENER
             HALLMARKING COMMITTEE, BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS
             ( BIS) HEAD QUARTER, 9 BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR MARG, NEW
             DELHI, PIN - 110 002.
             BY ADVS.
             R1 BY S.MANU, DSGI
             R2 & R3 BY SRI. MANOJ RAMASWAMY, SC



THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 31.03.2023,

ALONG WITH W.P.(C). NOS. 10042 & 10620 OF 2023, THE COURT ON THE SAME

DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch        :2

                IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                                 PRESENT

                THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHAJI P.CHALY

         FRIDAY, THE 31ST DAY OF MARCH 2023 / 10TH CHAITHRA, 1945

                         WP(C) NO. 10042 OF 2023

PETITIONER/S:

     1       KERALA GOLD AND SILVER DEALERS ASSOCIATION
             REG. NO. 65/99, PUZHANKARA ILLATH, KAIPPAMANGALAM,
             MOONUPEEDIKA, THRISSUR REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY,
             SRI. P.M. RAFEEK., PIN - 680 681.
     2       M/S. SILPI JEWELLERY
             MAIN ROAD, CHALAKUDY REPRESENTED BY ITS MANAGING
             PARTNER, SRI. PAVITHRAN T.C., PIN - 680 307.
     3       M/S. MISY JEWELLERY
             MUNICIPAL SHOPPING COMPLEX, EAST NADA, KODUNGALLOOR
             REPRESENTED BY ITS PROPRIETOR, SRI. ISMAIL, PIN - 680 664.
             BY ADVS.
             A.KUMAR
             P.J.ANILKUMAR
             G.MINI(1748)
             P.S.SREE PRASAD


RESPONDENT/S:

     1       UNION OF INDIA
             REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER
             AFFAIRS, KRISHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI, PIN - 110 001.
     2       BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS
             REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR GENERAL,BIS HEAD QUARTERS, 9
             BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR MARG, NEW DELHI, PIN - 110 002.
     3       THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR BUREAU OF INDIA
             STANDARDS
             SOUTHERN REGIONAL OFFICE, C.I.T. CAMPUS, IV CROSS ROAD,
             CHENNAI, PIN - 600 113.
     4       INDIAN ASSOCIATION OF HALLMARK CENTERS KERALA CHAPTER,
             ATHIRA ASSAYS, 2ND FLOOR, MISSION QUARTERS
             ROAD,THRISSUR, REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY,
             PIN - 680 005.
             BY ADVS.
             SRI. S.MANU, DSGI
             SRI. MANOJ RAMASWAMY

THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 31.03.2023,

ALONG WITH W.P.(C) NO..9820/2023 AND CONNECTED CASES, THE COURT ON

THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch       :3



                IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                                 PRESENT

                THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHAJI P.CHALY

         FRIDAY, THE 31ST DAY OF MARCH 2023 / 10TH CHAITHRA, 1945

                         WP(C) NO. 10620 OF 2023

PETITIONER/S:

     1       ALL KERALA GOLD AND SILVER MERCHANT ASSOCIATION
             HAVING ITS REGISTERED OFFICE AT MULLACKAL ALAPPUZHA,
             CENTRAL OFFICE: P T CHERIAN MEMORIAL SWARNA BHAVAN,
             I S PRESS ROAD, ERNAKULAM. PIN 682 016, REPRESENTED BY ITS
             SECRETARY, MAVELY JOSEPH NIXON, AGED 61 YEARS, S/O
             OUSEPH PAPPY, MAVELY, KARAYAMPARAMBU KARUKUTTY VILLAGE,
             KARUKUTTY, KARUKUTTY, ERNAKULAM, KERALA- 683 576.
     2       LUKE KURIAKOSE
             AGED 64 YEARS
             S/O KURIAKOSE, PAZHEMADOM HOUSE, PADINJERAKRA PO,
             VAIKOM. PIN 686 146.
             BY ADVS.
             JACOB P.ALEX
             JOSEPH P.ALEX
             AMAL AMIR ALI
             MANU SANKAR P.


RESPONDENT/S:

     1       UNION OF INDIA
             REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMERS
             AFFAIRS, MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC
             DISTRIBUTION, KRISHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI. PIN 110 001.
     2       BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS
             REPRESENTED BY ITS DIRECTOR GENERAL, BIS HEADQUARTERS, 9
             BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR MARG, NEW DELHI. PIN 110 002.
     3       DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL
             BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS, SOUTHERN REGIONAL OFFICE,
             CIT CAMPUS, IV CROSS ROAD, CHENNAI. TAMIL NADU 600 113.
             BY ADV.
             R2 & R3 BY SRI. MANOJ RAMASWAMY
             R1 BY SRI. S. MANU, DSGI

THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 31.03.2023,

ALONG WITH WP(C). NO. 9820/2023 & CONNECTED CASES, THE COURT ON THE

SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch      :4

                  Dated this the 31st day of March, 2023.

                              JUDGMENT

[ W.P.(C). Nos. 9820, 10042 & 10620 of 2023]

The captioned writ petitions are materially connected with

respect to the order bearing No. S. O. 1047(E) dated 03.03.2023

issued by the Government of India by which the Hallmarking of

Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts Order, 2020 is amended, after

consulting the Bureau of Indian Standards; by which no person

shall, after 30th March, 2023, sell or display or offer to sell gold

jewellery or Gold Artefacts, unless it is hallmarked in accordance

with the standards specified in IS 1417:2016 as amended by

Notification number Ref. HQ-PUB014/1/2020-PUB-BIS (191) dated

07.07.2021 published in the Gazette of India, Extra Ordinary, Part

III, Section 4 dated 15th July, 2021.

2. The paramount contention advanced by the petitioners is

that if the said order is implemented, it would abruptly cause

serious prejudice to the petitioners. However, the Government of

India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution,

Department of Consumer Affairs, has passed an order dated 29 th

March, 2023, by which the period for hallmarking in accordance

with the amendments specified above is extended by a period of

three months. The said order reads thus:

W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch :5

"F. No. V-6/1/2017, BIS (PT. 4) (E-24908) Government of India Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & PD Department of Consumer Affairs (BIS Division)

Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi Dated the 29th March, 2023

To

The Director General, Bureau of Indian Standards, 9, Manak Bhavan, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110 002.

Sub: Review the implementing of hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and preparedness for mandatory 6 digit hallmarking of gold jewellery, regarding -

Sir,

I am directed to refer to the subject mentioned above and to state that| a meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Secretary(CA) in hybrid mode on 24th March, 2023 at Room No. 41, Kiishi Bhawan, New Delhi with the members the Expert Committee and all the stakeholder of Hallmarking Jewellers Association, Representative of AHC on halmarking and some Voluntary Organisations (VOs) on consumer protection to review the implementation of hallmarking in India and preparedness in connection with making mandatory 6 digit hallmarking of gold jewellery with the Expert committee and all Stakeholder which want against the said order. After listening to views of all Stakeholders, following recommendations are placed before the Hon'ble Minister (CA, F&PD) for consideration:

a. Considering that, the hallmarkir:g at first point of sale was implemented W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch :6

at the time of mandatory hallmarking since 01 July 2021. As on 01 July, 2021 only 43,153 jewellers were registered with BIS. Therefore, practically only 43,153 jewellers may have the old stock of four marks hallmarked jewellery. BIS sought stock declaration from these jewellers at the time of implementation of HUID. However only 16,243 jewellers had declared their stock.

b. Going by the data of last three years, it is observed that before the implementation of HUID nearly 10 crore articles were hallmarked. Of these articles, most of them may have been sold by now. Thus, only a few of the stocks might be available with jewellers with old four digit hallmarks. c. For this old 4 mark still available with the 16,243 jewellers (declared their stock), a stock declaration may be taken from them as on the date in the prescribed format and they may be allowed, a time of two months to either clear their old stock or get it re-hallmarked. d. BIS will issue directions to AHCs regarding re-hallmarking along with existing hallmark or erasing the old 4 marks as per the request from jeweller.

e. For the jewellers as mentioned at Sl. No. 3 on production of valid invoice with traceability will be allowed HUID hallmarking at no cost from the AHCs. f. AFICs have informed that they have a capacity of hallmarking about 1000 articles per day. Most of the AHCs are underutilised at present and this was also substantiated from the data presented in the meeting. Hence, the issue of re-hallmarking will not be a problem. g. The suggestions given during the meeting regarding improving the hallmarking scheme will also be taken separately by BIS with the stakeholders.

2. Considering the above, it was proposed that the blanket extension of time for mandatory HUID Hallmarking may be not given, rather the jewellers giving declaration of having old stock of jewellery with old hallmarking prior to implementation of HUID (i.e. prior to 1" July 2021) hallmarking system, may be given extension for a fixed period which may not be more than 2-3 month.

W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch :7

3. The Competent Authority of this Department has kindly acceded to the proposal at para 2 above and approved the extension of time for mandatory HUID hallmarking for three months in this matter. In view of the above, draft press release, which is to be issued on/before 31.3.2023 and draft notification for the same may please be sent to this Department for legal vetting of the same by the Legislative Department

Yours faithfully

(Pramod Kr. Sahoo) Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India Tel: 23386210"

3. Even though the learned counsel for the petitioners have

expressed an apprehension that the said notification would apply in

the matter of 16243 jewellers, who have declared their stock, I am

of the considered opinion that going by paragraph 3 of the

Notification extracted above, it is quite clear and evident that the

competent authority of the Department has acceded to the proposal

at paragraph 2 therein and also approved the extension of the time

for mandatory HUID hallmarking for three months in the matter.

Accordingly, the petitioners are now provided with sufficient and

reasonable time to adhere to the amended provision discussed

above.

4. Therefore after hearing the respective counsel appearing

for the petitioners, Sri. A. Kumar, Sri. Jacob P. Alex and Sri. Nemom

Chandra Babu, learned DSGI Sri. S. Manu and Sri. Manoj W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch :8

Ramaswamy appearing for the Bureau of Indian Standards, and

perusing the pleadings and materials on record, I am of the view

that these writ petitions can be disposed of, in the light of the

notification dated 28.03.2023 issued by the Government of India

extending the time of compulsory hallmarking by a period of three

months.

5. So also, since the Government of India has extended the

time period to comply with the amendments specified above, there

is no requirement for adjudicating the issues raised by the

petitioners in these writ petitions. Accordingly the writ petitions are

allowed in terms of the Notification of the Government of India as

extracted above. I make it clear that whatever questions of facts

and law raised in these writ petitions are all left open.

SHAJI P. CHALY, JUDGE.

Rv
 W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch        :9




                     APPENDIX OF WP(C) 9820/2023

PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:

EXHIBIT P1               THE TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO S.O 205 (E)

DATED 15TH JANUARY 2020 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT EXHIBIT P2 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO. S.O.3513 (E) DATED 9TH OCTOBER, 2020 EXTENDING THE DATE OF IMPLEMENTING OF EXHIBIT P1 FROM 15TH JANUARY 2021 TO 15TH JUNE. 2021 EXHIBIT P3 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO. S.O 2102(E), DATED 1ST JUNE, 2021 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER NO. S.O 2481 (E) DATED 23.06.2021 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER S.O 1047 (E), DATED 03.03.2023 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 11.02.2023 SUBMITTED BEFORE THE HON`BLE MINISTER OF CONSUMERS AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION UNION OF INDIA.

RESPONDENT ANNEXURES

ANNEXURE R2 (A) TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 29.03.2023 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT

True Copy

PS To Judge.

rv
 W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch       : 10



                    APPENDIX OF WP(C) 10042/2023


PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:

EXHIBIT P1          TRUE COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE OF REGISTRATION
                    DATED:13/01/1999
EXHIBIT P2          TRUE COPY OF THE NOTIFICATION DATED 15.01.2020
                    ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT.
EXHIBIT P3          TRUE COPY OF THE NOTIFICATION DATED 01.06.2021.
EXHIBIT P4          TRUE COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED
                    18.06.2021.
EXHIBIT P5          TRUE COPY OF THE HALLMARKING OF GOLD

JEWELLERY AND GOLD ARTEFACTS (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 2023 DATED 3.3.2023.

EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF THE ERROR REPORT RECEIVED BY THE PETITIONERS WHILE UPLOADING THE DETAILS IN THE SERVER.

EXHIBIT P7 THE TRUE COPY OF THE NEWSPAPER REPORT IN THE MALAYALA MANORAMA DAILY DATED 18.3.2023. EXHIBIT P8 TRUE COPY OF THE PETITIONER'S REPRESENTATION TO THE 1ST AND 2ND RESPONDENT DATED 13.3.2023.

RESPONDENTS' ANNEXURES:

ANNEXURE R2 (A) TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 29.03.2023 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT

True Copy

PS To Judge.

rv
 W.P.(C) No. 9820/2023 & batch       : 11

                    APPENDIX OF WP(C) 10620/2023


PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:

EXHIBIT P1          TRUE COPY OF THE REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE OF
                    1ST PETITIONER
EXHIBIT P2          TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE BUREAU
                    OF INDIAN STANDARDS (HALLMARKING)
                    REGULATIONS, 2018
EXHIBIT P3          TRUE COPY OF THE HALLMARKING OF GOLD

JEWELLERY AND GOLD ARTEFACTS ORDER, 2020 DATED 15-01-2020 EXHIBIT P4 TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER BEARING NO. SO 2102(E) DATED 01-06-2021 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT EXHIBIT P5 TRUE COPY OF HALLMARKING OF GOLD JEWELLERY AND GOLD ARTEFACTS (SECOND AMENDMENT) ORDER, 2021 EXHIBIT P6 TRUE COPY OF THE IS 1417:2016: GOLD AND GOLD ALLOYS, JEWELLERY / ARTEFACTS - FINENESS AND MARKING - SPECIFICATION EXHIBIT P7 TRUE COPY OF AMENDMENT NO. 1 (JULY 2021) TO IS 1417:2016: GOLD AND GOLD ALLOYS, JEWELLERY / ARTEFACTS - FINENESS AND MARKING -

SPECIFICATION EXHIBIT P8 TRUE COPY OF THE BRIEF ON HALLMARKING SCHEME PUBLISHED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT IN EXHIBIT P9 TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF SO NO.

1047(E) DATED 03-03-2023.

EXHIBIT P10 TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 23.03.2023 SUBMITTED BEFORE THE HON'BLE MINISTER FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

RESPONDENTS' ANNEXURES:

ANNEXURE R2 (A) TRUE COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 29.03.2023 ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT

True Copy

PS To Judge.

rv