The Hindu Business Line : Khodays seeks Scotch remedy

The $1-billion Khodays' Group which owns one of the largest selling premium whisky brands in the country, Peter Scot, is seeking a legal opinion on a Delhi High Court verdict which has ruled that domestic whisky makers cannot use the words, Scot or Scotch on their products.

"We are seized of the matter. Our legal department is studying the ruling. Based on that we will take a call," an official with the Khodays' Group told Business Line. Khodays recently entered into a tie-up with Bagga Millennium Liquor India to market and distribute all its brands including Peter Scot. Industry analysts claim that Jagatjit Industries too could be affected by the ruling as one of its whisky brands is called, Bonnie Scot. Last week, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), an industry body of distillers, blenders and exporters of Scotch Whisky, won a significant ruling in their favour from the Delhi High Court which said that domestic whisky makers cannot use the words Scot or Scotch on their products. It also ordered Golden Bottling, a Jaipur-based company, not to use the word Scot on its product, Red Scot. SWA, an UK-based body, had in a petition to the Delhi High Court said that only those who produce whisky in Scotland can qualify to use the name Scotch to sell their brands.

But an industry analyst said that most of the large liquor companies in India have been following closely the Scotch Whisky Assocation's campaign against the misuse of the word Scotch by domestic liquor companies.

Hence these liquor companies have refrained from using the word Scotch on all their new whisky brands.

However, brands such as Peter Scot and Bonnie Scot have been in the market for decades and have built for themselves a good brand value.

While the SWA has won a significant victory on this issue, it still has to contend with local industry leaders and owners of huge liquor companies, such aslike Mr Vijay Mallya, who are extremely critical of the UK-based body's stand, which, while refusing to recognise Indian made liquor, has been demanding that the Indian Government should lower import tariffs on Scotch whisky.

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