Khadi body plans to move court against Fabindia

NEW DELHI: The battle for khadi' is set to intensify with the

Khadi

and

Village Industries Commission

(KVIC) considering legal action against

Fabindia

after getting the garment and home products firm to withdraw goods that were allegedly violating the trademark.

Sources said KVIC was looking to move court alleging violation of the Khadi Mark regulations, trademark violation, unfair trade practice and cheating, as it was selling products which did not conform with the prescribed norms.When contacted, KVIC chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena confirmed that the government agency was in talks with legal experts.

"We have already sought legal advice. We will decide on the future course of action," Saxena told TOI.

When contacted, a Fabindia spokesperson said, "Fabindia has operated within the stipulated guidelines and has had aseries of meetings with KVIC for Khadi Mark registration since August 2015. Fabindia has responded to KVIC's notice in its letter dated 10th February 2017, seeking a meeting for which a response is awaited."

The move comes days after KVIC served a legal notice prompting Fabindia CEO

Viney Singh

to restart negotiations.

KVIC had first asked Fabindia to stop sale and advertisement of `khadi' branded products in 2015, since the company did not have approvals to use the khadi trademark. Subsequently , there were negotiations between both the organisations. Sources said that Fabindia had applied for a regi stration and initially agreed to the terms and conditions offered by KVIC, including purchase from certified agencies.In September, however, when KVIC did not hear from the company for nearly two months, it decided to treat the application "as closed". This came even as tie-ups with Raymond, Peter England and Arvind Mills were finalised.

Earlier this month, KVIC sent a legal notice to Fabindia which alleged that the company was found flouting norms and using the word `khadi' on price tags of its garments tha otherwise sported the word "

Fabindia Cotton

" on its la bels. KVIC alleged by doing s Fabindia was misleading con sumers and it was unlawful, re sulting in withdrawal of th products from stores.

"We lost business due to th sale of a product that was no khadi. It also means that our ar tisans, whose wages make up fo 40% of the cost, lost livelihood This is our main concern," th KVIC chairman said.