Section 37A explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 37A lets the Registrar of Geographical Indications authorise an officer to act as an "adjudicating officer", hold an inquiry and impose a penalty under the Act, after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard. It is a new section: it was not in the Act as originally enacted and is not in the printed principal text. If a penalty notice has reached you, our legal dispute resolution team can read the order and the timelines with you.
The Registrar may, by an order, authorise an officer referred to in section 3 to be the adjudicating officer. That officer holds an inquiry and imposes a penalty under the Act, in the manner as may be prescribed, and only after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard. The section was inserted after section 37 by the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023. An appeal against the officer's order is dealt with in section 37B.
Where section 37A comes from
The Act as enacted has Chapter VIII (offences, penalties and procedure) running from section 37 straight to section 38. Item 31 of the Schedule to the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 deals with this Act. Its clause (A) says that after section 37 two sections shall be inserted: 37A and 37B. The same item substitutes the punishment in section 42(2), omits sections 43 and 44, and adds two rule-making heads to section 87(2). The text we read does not print a commencement date for these changes in that entry, so we give none; check the official text for it.
The Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 does not touch section 37A. It was not in existence when that Act was passed.
The words of the section
Section 37A, headed "Adjudication of penalties", reads: "The Registrar may, by an order, authorise an officer referred to in section 3, to be adjudicating officer for holding an inquiry and imposing penalty under the provisions of this Act, in the manner as may be prescribed, after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard."
| Element | What the text says |
|---|---|
| Who authorises | The Registrar |
| How | By an order |
| Who can be authorised | An officer referred to in section 3 |
| Title given | Adjudicating officer |
| Job | Holding an inquiry and imposing penalty |
| Scope | "Under the provisions of this Act" |
| Manner | "As may be prescribed" |
| Safeguard | A reasonable opportunity of being heard |
Who is "an officer referred to in section 3"
Section 3(1) makes the Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks the Registrar of Geographical Indications. Section 3(2) lets the Central Government appoint officers, with such designations as it thinks fit, to discharge, under the Registrar's superintendence and direction, such functions of the Registrar as he may from time to time authorise. Section 4 lets the Registrar withdraw a matter from such an officer or transfer it to another.
Section 37A uses the phrase "an officer referred to in section 3". The natural reading is the officers appointed under section 3(2). The text does not say in so many words whether the Registrar himself may also sit as adjudicating officer, so we do not claim either way. It also does not name any designation. Who has actually been authorised is a matter of the Registrar's orders, which are outside the sources we used.
Penalty, not prosecution
The Act has two kinds of consequence, and it helps to keep them apart.
| Offence tried by a court | Penalty imposed by adjudicating officer | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical provisions | Sections 39, 40 and 41 (imprisonment and fine) | Section 42(2), as now amended (a penalty in money) |
| Who decides | A court; section 50(2) says none inferior to a Metropolitan Magistrate or Judicial Magistrate of the first class may try an offence | An officer authorised by the Registrar under section 37A |
| Process | Trial | Inquiry, after a reasonable opportunity of being heard |
| Challenge | Appeal as the law of criminal procedure allows | Appeal under section 37B to an officer one rank above |
Section 37A speaks only of "penalty under the provisions of this Act". It does not list which provisions. The only provision we can point to from the amending text is section 42(2), where the Jan Vishwas Act replaced "punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both" with "liable to penalty of a sum equal to one-half per cent. of the total sales or turnover, as the case may be, in business or of the gross receipts in profession as computed in the audited accounts of such person, or a sum equal to five lakh rupees, whichever is less". That is explained in the article on section 42.
The inquiry and the hearing
Two features of the section protect the person facing the penalty.
- Reasonable opportunity of being heard. The adjudicating officer may impose a penalty only "after giving" this opportunity. A penalty order made without it would be open to challenge on the face of the section.
- Prescribed manner. The inquiry and the imposition of the penalty are to follow "the manner as may be prescribed". The Jan Vishwas Act adds clause (oa) to section 87(2) so the rules can cover "the manner of holding inquiry and imposing penalty under section 37A". The rules are not in our sources, so we state no notice period, form, fee or step.
Example. The Registrar authorises an officer by order to adjudicate. A trader, Kavita Handlooms, is alleged to have represented an unregistered indication as registered. The officer issues notice, hears Kavita Handlooms and then passes an order imposing a penalty. If the officer had passed the order without any hearing, the section's own condition would not have been met. If Kavita Handlooms is aggrieved by the order, section 37B gives it sixty days from receipt of the order to appeal.
What section 37A does not say
- It does not say which officers are authorised; that is for the Registrar's order.
- It does not list the penalties that can be adjudicated.
- It does not fix a time limit for the inquiry.
- It does not prescribe the form of notice, the evidence rules or any fee; the text leaves all of that to the rules.
- It does not say that every contravention must go through adjudication.
Practical points
- On receiving any notice, check that it comes from an officer authorised by the Registrar's order. Ask for a copy of that authorisation.
- Use the hearing. File a written reply and ask for the documents relied on.
- Note the date you receive the final order; the appeal clock under section 37B runs from receipt.
- Keep audited accounts ready, because the section 42(2) penalty is computed on them.
Need help with a penalty inquiry under the GI Act?
A penalty inquiry moves quickly to an order, and the appeal window is short. Our legal dispute resolution team can prepare your reply to the notice, attend the hearing with you and plan any appeal. The first step is to bring us the notice and any order of authorisation.
Key takeaways
- Section 37A was inserted after section 37 by the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023; it is not in the principal text.
- The Registrar, by an order, authorises an officer referred to in section 3 as adjudicating officer.
- The officer holds an inquiry and imposes penalty under the Act, in the prescribed manner, after a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
- Sections 39, 40 and 41 remain offences for a court; section 42(2) is now a penalty.
- The appeal against the order is under section 37B.
Read next
- Section 37B: appeal against an adjudication order
- Section 42: falsely representing a geographical indication as registered
- Sections 3 and 4: the Registrar and the power to withdraw or transfer cases
- Infringement of geographical indication: penalties
Disclaimer: Based on the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 read with the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021 and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, as consulted on 1 October 2026. Forms, fees and procedure are set by the rules made under the Act. This article is general information, not legal advice; check the official text before acting.