By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, May 9, 2018: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday served notice to Odisha and West Bengal on a petition seeking scrapping Geographical Indication (GI) tag to ‘Banglar Rasogolla’.

The court has served the notice to Odisha Chief Secretary, West Bengal State Council of Science and Technology, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and Chennai’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) after hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

Susanta Sahu, Secretary of Punya Utkal Foundation and Santosh Kumar Sahoo, Editor of Odia Parba, had filed the PIL on February 5 seeking GI tag for ‘Odishara Rasagola’ and scrapping GI tag received by West Bengal.

The pearly white, mouthwatering Rasgulla finds itself amid a controversy over its origin. While West Bengal believes it was invented in then Calcutta by confectioner Nabin Chandra Das, Odisha says it was invented in the holy city of Puri way back in the 13th century.

The West Bengal-Odisha Rasgulla fight had taken a legal turn when WB filed a court petition in tandem with the application for Geographical Indication (GI) and had said that the government will not let Odisha claim the credit for the Rasgulla.

“Rasagolla is the ancient identity of Odia people. It is the pride and identity of the people of Odisha. Our argument before the court was that the tag that has been given to the state of West Bengal is illogical and we want the GI tag for Odisha since it’s our identity,” said advocate Siddharth Prasad Das.

West Bengal got the GI tag on November 14 last year by furnishing false evidence and data, Odisha government said.

Earlier, the GI Registry office on March 16 issued a show-cause notice to the West Bengal State Food Processing and Horticulture Development Corporation asking it why the tag given to ‘Banglar Rasogolla’ will not be withdrawn, said sources.

Regional Development Trust chairman Ramesh Chandra Sahoo, who moved the application, alleged that West Bengal had received the GI status by furnishing false evidence and data.

Notably, the Odisha government has already filed an application for GI tag for ‘Odishara Rasagola’.